The notion that the immune system might be enlisted to rid the body of cancer draws on past work at the Branch, which revealed that most human tumors bear antigens that can be recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs).

        Some of these antigens are highly tumor-specific, while others are expressed on certain normal cells. A number of antigens have been found on many different types of tumors, suggesting that a therapeutic strategy targeting such antigens could be used to treat a wide range of cancers. The Brussels Branch continues the search for tumor antigens, and evaluates their therapeutic potential in vaccine trials of cancer patients.

        The Brussels Branch is also involved in research on the immunological functions of several cytokines, particularly IL-9 and IL-22 which have been discovered at the Branch.
The signaling pathways and genes induced by these cytokines are also studied.

Thierry Boon