Event
BIOE Seminar: Laser Immunotherapy
Friday, April 29, 2022
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room 2121
Dr. Joe Huang
hchuang@umd.edu
Wei R Chen
Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering
University of Oklahoma
Laser immunotherapy – a bioengineering approach for the treatment of metastatic cancers
Abstract
Metastasis causes 90% of cancer-related deaths. Cancer develops due to failure of the host immune surveillance and defense system. Because of the immunological root cause of cancers, immunotherapy has been considered as the most promising treatment modality. My research group has been working on the development of laser immunotherapy (LIT), a novel approach to synergize phototherapy and immunotherapy to fight against metastatic cancers by activating, enhancing, and directing the host immune system. LIT uses the combination of local laser irradiation and local administration of an immunological stimulant to induce tumor-specific immune responses. Our pre-clinical studies and preliminary clinical trials showed that LIT could not only destroy the treated primary tumors but also eradicate untreated metastatic tumors at distant sites, leading to long-term survival and tumor resistance. In this talk, the current status of cancer and the history of cancer immunotherapy will be briefly introduced. Then, LIT – its components, procedures, and mechanism – will be presented. The results of our preliminary clinical studies on melanoma and breast cancer, as well as the results on LIT treatment of pancreatic cancer in animal studies, will be presented. Our recent mechanistic studies using single-cell RNA sequencing on the LIT activation of T cells and B cells in the tumor microenvironment will be discussed.
Speaker Bio
Wei R. Chen is currently Stephenson Chair and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Chen was trained as a theoretical high-energy particle physicist. He received his BS degree in physics from Shandong University, China, and PhD degree in physics from the University of Oregon. He switched his research focus from particle physics to cancer in the early 1990s.
Dr. Chen took a unique bioengineering approach to develop novel cancer therapies. He led his research team in the development of laser immunotherapy (LIT), a novel method that combines local laser ablation and local administration of immunostimulants. The laser ablation selectively destroys tumor cells, releasing tumor antigens, and the immunostimulants activate immune cells, specifically targeting the tumor cells. In pre-clinical studies and preliminary clinical trials, LIT has eliminated treated tumors and eradicated untreated distant metastases, significantly prolonging patients’ survival time. For the development of LIT, Dr. Chen co-invented N-dihydrogalactochitosan, or glycated chitosan, (GC), a potent immunostimulant for inducing antitumor immunity, and the unique combination of local laser irradiation and immunostimulation. As a co-inventor, he was awarded five US patents and multiple international patents on LIT. Dr. Chen also developed a multifunctional bionanoprobe for targeted drug delivery, tumor imaging, and treatment of metastatic cancers by constructing a stable solution of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) using the novel immunostimulant GC as an effective surfactant. He was awarded two US patents on the immunologically modified carbon nanotubes.
Dr. Chen has led the effort to commercialize LIT. In 2008, he co-founded Immunophotonics, Inc., a biotech company to translate LIT into a commercial product. He has served on the Board of Directors of Immunophotonics since its inception and has provided leadership and guidance for pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, and product development.
Dr. Chen has published over 170 peer-reviewed articles and has an h-index of 53. He has been awarded 10 US patents and multiple international patents. As Principal Investigator, he has received more than $10 million in research and education funding from federal, state, and private sources. He was elected as a Fellow of SPIE (the International Society for Photonics and Optics) in 2007 and a Fellow of AIMBE (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering) in 2022.
Dr. Chen has helped organize more than 100 international conferences and has been an invited speaker at over 100 institutions on five continents. In 2006, he established and has since served as the chair of the international conference “Biophotonics and Immune Responses” at Photonics West of SPIE, which has become an effective forum for scientists, clinicians, and engineers to share their results of basic, translational, and clinical research.
Dr. Chen has been dedicated to education for more than 30 years. He received the 2008 US Professor of the Year award from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He was a recipient of the 2011-2012 US Fulbright Lecturing/Research Award. He also received the Medal for Excellence in Teaching from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. In 2012, Dr. Chen received international recognition as a recipient of the SPIE Educator Award.
