Breakthrough in Cancer Immunotherapy: Fudan University Researchers Develop New Strategy

Strategic Insights -

Researchers at Fudan University have made a significant discovery in cancer immunotherapy, developing a new strategy that combines photodynamic therapy (PDT) with interleukin-15 (IL-15) to improve treatment outcomes. The study, published in the journal Pharmaceutics, used a co-hitchhiking delivery approach to enhance the therapeutic effect of PDT and IL-15, leading to improved tumor accumulation and prolonged blood half-life of the treatment components. This innovative approach has shown promise in eliciting potent systemic antitumor immunity and long-lasting immune memory against tumor rechallenge in model mice.

Key Takeaways:

  • Researchers at Fudan University have developed a new strategy for cancer immunotherapy that combines photodynamic therapy (PDT) with interleukin-15 (IL-15) to improve treatment outcomes.
  • The study used a co-hitchhiking delivery approach to enhance the therapeutic effect of PDT and IL-15, leading to improved tumor accumulation and prolonged blood half-life of the treatment components.
  • The co-hitchhiking delivery approach used recombinant IL-15 (rIL-15) and a photosensitizer, pheophorbide A (PhA), to improve the therapeutic effect of PDT and IL-15.
  • The study showed that the co-hitchhiking delivery strategy effectively elicited potent systemic antitumor immunity and long-lasting immune memory against tumor rechallenge in model mice.
  • The researchers designed a recombinant IL-15Ra-sushi-Fc fusion protein (rILR-Fc) to load rIL-15 through the IL-15Ra sushi domain, which mimics its trans-presentation.
  • The Fc moiety of rILR-Fc can load PhA based on its high binding affinity, allowing for self-assembly into nanoparticles (NPs) for co-hitchhiking delivery.

Statistics:

  • The research concluded that the co-hitchhiking delivery strategy optimized the pharmacokinetics of both the photosensitizer and IL-15, providing a promising strategy for combinatorial photodynamic and IL-15 immunotherapy.
  • The study used a co-hitchhiking delivery approach to enhance the therapeutic effect of PDT and IL-15, which resulted in improved tumor accumulation and prolonged blood half-life of the treatment components.
  • The researchers found that the nanoparticles prolonged the blood half-life of rIL-15 but did not alter the elimination rate of PhA from the blood.

Sources:

  • Interleukin-15Ra-Sushi-Fc Fusion Protein Co-Hitchhikes Interleukin-15 and Pheophorbide A for Cancer Photoimmunotherapy. Pharmaceutics, 2025,17(5):615.
  • Fudan University Researchers Illuminate Research in Cancer (Interleukin-15Ra-Sushi-Fc Fusion Protein Co-Hitchhikes Interleukin-15 and Pheophorbide A for Cancer Photoimmunotherapy). Cancer Weekly. June 10, 2025; p 501.