Cancer intrinsic mechanisms that mediate immune evasion in pediatric brain cancer and glioblastoma

Immune checkpoint blockades have transformed cancer treatment but have not demonstrated efficacy in pediatric brain tumors, like DIPG and medulloblastoma, or adult glioblastoma. DIPG, medulloblastoma and glioblastoma have less mutational burden, and the intrinsic feature of low immunogenicity, leading to less T cell infiltration to the tumor. We are currently investigating how to enhance the mutational burden and immunogenicity of brain cancer to sensitize those tumors to immune checkpoint blockades.