SBO: MATATUM : Validation and druggability development of macrophage-specific targets in the tumor microenvironment

Immune-based therapies, boosting the patient’s own immune system in the fight against cancer, have recently shown promising results in a range of cancer types. Yet, addressing the development of therapy resistance, resulting in cancer relapse, remains an important unmet medical need. Recent evidence suggests that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), representing a heterogeneous population of immune cells in tumors encompassing subsets with distinct molecular profiles and functions, considerably promote tumor progression and also contribute to therapy resistance. In this context, reprogramming of the TAM phenotype has the potential of synergistically improving the efficacy of immunotherapy by counteracting therapy resistance, promoting antigen presentation, inducing vessel normalisation and increasing the cytotoxic activity of TAMs.