Despite the dismaying outcome of ovarian cancer patients, immune cells in the ovarian carcinoma microenvironment spontaneously exert clinically relevant pressure against malignant progression. We and others have contributed to identifying a characteristic Th1 signature, multiple immunosuppressive mechanisms and T cells reacting against ovarian cancer antigens, further supporting that many ovarian cancers are truly immunogenic. However, checkpoint inhibitors show no better than 15% effectiveness in ovarian cancer patients. Here, we will summarize our current understanding of the immunobiology of ovarian cancer, emphasizing those aspects that make this disease particularly challenging and relatively resistant to immunotherapeutic interventions.
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Dr. Jose Conejo-Garcia is the Chair of the Department of Immunology at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Research Institute. He is also co-leader of the Immunology Program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.
Dr. Conejo-Garcia’s research program focuses on understanding and targeting mechanisms governing the balance between immunosuppression and protective immunity in the tumor microenvironment, with an emphasis on the role of cancer-driven pathological myelopoiesis.
By combining translational understanding and clinical specimens with mechanistic studies in mouse models, Dr. Conejo-Garcia has contributed to elucidate many of the mechanisms driving protective immunity against gynecologic cancers that have been unveiled in recent years, as demonstrated by >100 of recent articles that total >9,000 citations in Scopus. He is the principal investigator of 3 active RO1s on the immunobiology of ovarian cancer, and collaborates with other investigators in other funded research projects. Dr. Conejo-Garcia serves as a reviewer on several editorial boards and has completed his tenure as a chartered member of the TTT NIH study section.