Engineering immunotherapeutic probiotics to mitigate irAE

PROJECT NARRATIVE Cancer immunotherapies have demonstrated significant clinical success for subgroups of patients with varying malignancies. However, due in part to their systemic administration, therapeutic limitations include immune- related adverse effects and diminished efficacy due to poor tumor penetration. This proposal seeks to engineer immunotherapeutic probiotic bacteria that target primary cancers and associated metastases and locally deliver immunotherapy and adjuvants to stimulate systemic antitumor immunity with minimal side effects.