Using the body's own defences to fight cancer
Southampton is a leading international centre for developing therapies that use the body’s own defences to tackle cancer, improving treatment options and outcomes for people fighting cancer.
Enabling the body to recognise cancer
The body’s immune system has powerful and varied tools for fighting infection, able to recognise and neutralise cells or molecules that shouldn’t be in the body.
Because cells change as they become cancerous, they begin to ‘look’ subtly different to other body cells – Southampton’s great strength is in using these differences to target cancer cells, and turn the immune system on them:
Key investigators
Discoveries by Southampton researchers like Martin Glennie and Tim Elliott have paved the way for new cancer vaccines, targeted therapies and personalised treatment approaches across cancer types including lymphoma, leukaemia, prostate, breast, lung and bowel.
Key investigator: Tim Elliott
Professor Elliott’s research looks at how the body prepares viruses and cancer cells for recognition (and eventual destruction) by the immune system.
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