Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

The scientific objectives of the University of Florida Health Cancer Center (UFHCC) Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response (CTHR) Program are to advance understanding of interactions between tumor cells, immune cells and microbes that mediate tumor development and progression, to define mechanisms regulating host responses to tumor progression, and advance novel therapeutic treatments for patients with cancer that exploit these interactions. CTHR Program members support the principal scientific themes of: 1) applied studies manipulating host immune responses for cancer therapy; 2) studies to elucidate the interactions between the microbiome and host in shaping immunity and inflammation influencing cancer development and treatment; and 3) identification of new oncogenic targets and pathways, development of compounds to aid clinical development of new cancer therapies. By achieving a greater understanding of tumor, host and microbial interactions that govern treatment response and resistance, these themes aim to initially identify potential therapeutic strategies harnessing the immune system, manipulating the host microbiome, and targeting molecular cancer pathways, and then advance these strategies into both preclinical testing and into investigator-initiated clinical trials (IITs).

Aims

• Understand tumor immunology and develop novel immunotherapies for refractory cancer. Through this aim the group will elucidate new insights into tumor immuno-biology and mechanisms of immune evasion that can be exploited to develop novel and effective immunotherapeutic strategies targeting refractory malignancies.
• Elucidate microbiome function in cancer development and therapeutics. This aim studies the interactions between bacteria and host in cancer pathogenesis, the ways bacteria modulate the anti-tumor efficacy of various chemotherapeutic compounds and immunotherapeutic agents, and how microbiota and host interact in complications of cancer therapy and hematopoietic cell transplantation.
• Identify and validate targeted therapeutics engaging key cancer pathways with small molecules and to test new therapies in clinical trials. This aim plans to discover antineoplastic properties of natural products, identify new “druggable” targets and develop synthetic compounds that interact with key pathways known to be drivers of cancer biology.

The goal of CTHR program development and future plans is to improve outcomes of the most common cancers in our catchment area, as outlined in the UFHCC strategic plan. In this narrative, we highlight research studies and trials of lung, breast, colorectal, leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, and pediatric cancers. The University of Florida now serves as a center for basic and clinical brain tumor research and a destination site for clinical brain tumor treatment for the entire state of Florida, with patients also traveling from out of state and internationally to enroll on novel immunotherapy trials. The brain tumor center extends the impact of UFHCC to the national and international level.

Program Co-Leaders

Christian Jobin

Christian Jobin, Ph.D., is a tenured professor of medicine in the University of Florida College of Medicines’ division of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. He has a dual appointment with the department of infectious diseases and pathology at UF and the UF College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Jobin received his Ph.D. in immunology-microbiology from Laval University in Quebec and completed his fellowship at Hôspital Saint-François d’Assise, Laval University.

Dr. Jobin is interested in bacteria/host interactions and ensuring innate/immunological responses during health and diseases. He studies the differential contribution of bacteria in protecting or exacerbating development of colitis and colorectal cancer. Dr. Jobin has contributed to the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanism regulating host response to bacterial colonization, and has published numerous papers on innate signaling events taking place in the intestine and how these impact intestinal homeostasis. Click here for information on Dr. Jobin’s  research lab.

He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Gastroenterological Association, the Mucosal Immunology Association, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Association of Immunologists.

Duane A. Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D.

Duane A. Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., is the Phyllis Kottler Friedman professor in the department of neurosurgery at UF and the State of Florida Endowed Cancer Research Chair at the UF College of Medicine. He also serves as co-director of the Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy and director of the UF Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program.

In 2013, Dr. Mitchell joined the University of Florida faculty and leads a comprehensive brain tumor program focused on translational research. He has considerable clinical and translational research experience having served as principal investigator on seven first-in-human protocols through FDA-approved clinical trials. The goal of these trials is to see improvements in patient outcomes using novel approaches that stimulate immune responses against malignant brain tumor cells in combination with current standard treatments. Dr. Mitchell’s research team will expand upon early successes observed in these personalized cancer treatment approaches, and offer unique clinical options at UF for adult and pediatric patients diagnosed with malignant brain tumors.

Dr. Mitchell currently serves as a chartered member of the NIH study section on Cancer Immunopathology and Immunotherapy, Chair of the NCI Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium Immunotherapy Committee, member of the NCI Brain Malignancy Steering Committee Immunotherapy Working Group, and as gubernatorial appointee to the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research Scientific Advisory Council. His work is supported by the Department of Defense, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Stroke, and several private funding agencies.

Program Members

To request an update, please email ResearchAdmin@cancer.ufl.edu.