Immunotherapy against cancer is rapidly becoming part of standard clinical practice thanks to recent breakthroughs in the understanding of the pivotal role of the immune system in tumorigenesis. Despite encouraging successes against some tumor types, many questions remain, including why some treated patients show no benefit at all. The Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center (AITC) was launched in 2021 to bring patients, clinicians, and scientists together to create synergy and facilitate the rapid translation of immunological research findings into treatments and diagnostic tests. Recently, Dr. Vania Lo Presti has joined AITC to coordinate these collaborative efforts to improve and expand immunotherapies for patients.

Based on our growing knowledge of the immune system, successful cancer therapies have been developed over the last decade that sometimes provide long-term disease remissions. However, immunotherapy is not effective for all patients or all types of cancer. Therefore, new discoveries are needed to better understand how tumors evade the immune system, to identify predictive biomarkers, and explore new therapeutic opportunities.

Examples of immunotherapies under development or used in the clinic

  • Adoptive cell therapies – genetic modification of (patients’) immune cells to promote tumor recognition and destruction
  • Checkpoint inhibitors – precision drugs blocking tumor signals which suppress immune cell attack
  • Antibody therapies – antibodies are used to recognize a specific surface molecule on the tumor to activate the immune system and destroy cancer cells
  • Cancer vaccines – prevention of cancer and treatment of tumors by training the immune system to recognize specific markers of (pre)cancerous cells
  • Immune system modulators – drugs that stimulate or suppress the immune system
  • Oncolytic viral therapies – delivery of modified viral particles that specifically infect tumor cells, resulting in tumor cell death and activation of the patient’s immune system to attack cancer cells.

Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center

The importance of establishing an immunotherapy center at Amsterdam UMC was recognized by Cancer Center Amsterdam Foundation, which provided an investment grant to launch AITC in 2021. The Center aims to connect scientists and clinicians working at Amsterdam UMC in the fields of fundamental and clinical immunology to facilitate the development and implementation of immunotherapies.

The general idea of the Immunotherapy Center is to create an expertise network at Amsterdam UMC involving all people working on immunotherapy.”
Dr. Vania Lo Presti
Coordinator Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center

The Executive Board of AITC has issued a mission statement outlining plans to fast-track immunological research into existing tumor care pathways (“zorgpaden”) and perform clinical trials for the translation of novel (personalized) treatments, as well as understanding how to identify responders and non-responders to novel treatments. Within the next 10 years, AITC has the ambition to become an internationally leading immunotherapy center that will provide optimal personalized treatments and diagnostics through immunology-based approaches.

Patients, clinicians, and researchers: partners to improve and develop immunotherapies

AITC will serve as an interface between clinicians and translational researchers of Cancer Center Amsterdam and the research institute Amsterdam institute for Infection & Immunity (AII). “By recognizing all stakeholders and establishing a transparent overview of the research and clinical activities in immunotherapy at Amsterdam UMC, we can stimulate and optimize our activities,” says Dr. Lo Presti.

Partnerships with patients are critical for both research and implementing immunotherapy and diagnostic methods into care pathways. Patient samples are carefully collected and annotated in our biobanks to provide fundamental knowledge through analysis of immunological features (see diagram below). This yields insights into the biology of immunotherapy and, in turn, creates new opportunities for diagnostics, biomarker analysis, immune profiling, and the development of novel immune-based therapies.

Schematic organization of Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center (AITC). CCA = Cancer Center Amsterdam, AII = Amsterdam institute for Infection and Immunity.

For more information, contact Dr. Vania Lo Presti , Coordinator Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center.

Executive Board Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center

- Prof. Marjolein van Egmond
- Prof. Tanja de Gruijl
- Prof. Niels van de Donk
- Prof. Yvette van Kooyk
- Dr. Juan Garcia Vallejo
- Dr. Sarah Derks

Key stakeholder Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center:

Dr. Idris Bahce, Prof. Timo van de Berg, Dr. Maarten Bijlsma, Dr. Hetty Bontkes, Dr. Sarah Derks, Dr. Frederike Dijk, Dr. Niels van de Donk, Prof. Guus van Dongen, Prof. Fons van den Eertwegh, Prof. Marjolein van Egmond, Prof. Eric Eldering, Dr. Juan Garcia Vallejo, Prof. Jaap Goudsmit, Prof. Arjan Griffioen, Prof. Tanja de Gruijl, Dr. Joke den Haan, Prof. Daphne de Jong, Dr. Katja Jordanova, Prof. Arnon Kater, Prof. Geert Kazemier, Prof. Yvette van Kooyk, Prof. Arjan van de Loosdrecht, Dr. Rosalie Luiten, Prof. Reina Mebius, Prof. Martijn Meijerink, Prof. Tuna Mutis, Dr. Theodora Radonic, Dr. Maria Themeli, Dr. Victor Thijssen, Dr. Joris Veltman, Dr. Rieneke van de Ven, Dr. Gestur Vidarsson, Prof. Mark van de Vijver, Dr. Sandra van Vliet.