Speakers
Description
Cancer exhibits a remarkable capacity to adapt to therapeutic and immune pressures, posing major challenges to long-term treatment efficacy. The evolutionary dynamics of the tumour complicate immune recognition, limiting the effective activation of Natural Killer (NK) and T cells, and eventually leading to immune escape. On the other hand, the immune responses can be enhanced through interactions with antigen-presenting cells (such as dendritic cells) and oncolytic viruses. Mathematical and computational models provide a rigorous framework to explore unobservable mechanisms and assess therapeutic strategies through integration with experimental data.
This minisymposium focuses on mathematical modelling approaches for cancer immunotherapy, addressing how immune-mediated tumour control emerges from processes acting across molecular, cellular, and tissue scales. Contributions include the prediction of heterogeneous tumour responses to TRAIL-mediated NK cytotoxicity, the role of TCR-pMHC recognition in shaping immune targeting, and the enhancement of T-cell activation through dendritic cells and oncolytic viruses. By combining mechanistic, stochastic, and agent-based models, we aim to identify determinants of durable immune control and inform rational designs of immunotherapeutic strategies.
We seek to foster discussion by bringing together a diverse, gender-balanced group of researchers from various institutions across different countries.
