Research Group Patrick Roth

Keywords

Brain tumor, neuro-oncology, CAR T cell, immunotherapy

Summary & Mission statement

Our group has a preclinical and clinical research focus on the immunology and immunotherapy of brain tumors and aims at developing novel therapeutic strategies.

Overview

The research of our group focuses on the biology of malignant gliomas, which are neoplasms of the CNS. These tumors are characterized by resistance to conventional therapy and paradigmatic for tumor-associated immunosuppression. Various in vitro and in vivo models including glioma stem cells have been established to address these issues. Current projects aim at assessing novel mediators of glioma immune escape and the interaction of glioma and immune cells. We are investigating novel therapeutic approaches in order to overcome the treatment resistance of these tumors. A major focus has been the development of novel immunotherapeutic strategies including genetically engineered immune cells (e.g., CAR T cells) as well as other antibody-based constructs which can be used as therapeutic weapons against these tumors. Our research projects are part of the Clinical Research Priority Program “ImmunoCure” (www.immunocure.uzh.ch).