Patients with solid tumors metastatic to regional lymph nodes experience 50%
decreased survival even when matching for primary tumor size, the absence of
distant metastases, and treatment. The molecular mechanisms underlying this
ominous association remain unknown. We hypothesize that tumor cells that have
metastasized to lymph nodes mediate interactions with lymph node constituent
elements in ways that drive tumor tolerance by the immune system. Our work seeks
to understand the dynamic tumor cell/lymph node interactions that drive such an
effect with particular focus on adhesion receptors as mediators of immune
effector cell anergy as well as potential targets epitopes for vaccine approaches.
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