No. 37

ERC funding for research into improved cancer immunotherapies

Two researchers are shown side by side: on the left, a man in a blue button-up shirt, and on the right, a man in a white lab coat with glasses. They convey professionalism and collaboration in the field of cancer research, highlighting contributions to a European research project.

With its Proof of Concept grants, the European Research Council (ERC) supports scientists in further developing the economic potential of their research results. Two scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now received this coveted funding for the second time: Fabricio Loayza-Puch wants to identify unknown immunoactive peptides on tumor cells that can serve as targets for personalized cancer vaccines. Chong Sun has developed an antibody that can reactivate suppressed T cells against cancer and is now being developed for clinical use.

Portrait of a professional man with short, dark hair, wearing a light blue button-up shirt. He is standing with his arms crossed, facing the camera, and has a neutral expression. The background is blurred, suggesting a clean, modern environment, likely an office setting.
Fabricio Loayza-Puch

What makes the ERC's Proof of Concept grants special is that only those who already receive ERC funding are eligible to apply. The Research Council wants to enable scientists to explore and develop potential applications for the research results obtained in an ERC-funded project.

Under certain medications or chemotherapeutics, many cancer cells stop producing proteins and instead begin to form specific small peptides. These so-called “therapy-induced” peptides are presented on the surface of the tumor cells. Unlike normal cell proteins, they are foreign to the immune system, which therefore responds by attacking the cancer cells. Fabricio Loayza-Puch wants to exploit this fact. Funded by an ERC PoC grant, he plans to develop “off the shelf” mRNA vaccines based on these peptides, initially for the difficult-to-treat triple-negative breast cancer. The researchers' goal is to improve the response to chemotherapy and overcome resistance to treatment.

A smiling scientist in a lab coat stands with arms crossed in a laboratory filled with glassware and equipment. The background features shelves with various scientific materials, indicating a research environment focused on innovation and discovery.
Chong Sun

Immunotherapies including immune checkpoint blockade and T cell therapy often fail because T cells cannot effectively infiltrate and sustain their functions in solid tumors. Supported by an ERC Starting Grant, immunologist Chong Sun has discovered one key reason for this: many cancer cells carry a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) molecule on their surface that becomes selectively activated in solid tumors and impairs immune cell activity. Inhibiting this GPCR enhances immune cell infiltration, promotes T cell survival and antitumor activity, and reverse resistance to immunotherapies across various preclinical models. Encouraged by these results, the team led by Chong Sun developed antibodies that specifically blocks this GPCR. With funding from the ERC PoC grant, the researchers aim to further optimize a lead antibody candidate, perform preclinical development, and establish a biomarker-guided strategy for patient selection. The ultimate goal is to license or spin off the therapeutic candidate for clinical application and commercialization.

Fabricio Loayza-Puch studied at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He then conducted research in Japan at Kyoto University, where he received his PhD in molecular oncology in 2010. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, he was appointed head of the Translational Control and Metabolism junior research group in 2018.

Chong Sun began his studies in biotechnology in 2003 at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China, and graduated in 2010 with a master's degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Utrecht University, Netherlands. He then conducted research as a PhD student and later as a postdoctoral fellow at the Netherlands Cancer Institute until 2019. Since November 2019, Chong Sun has headed the junior research group Cancer Immune Regulation at the DKFZ.

Photos of the grant recipients are available for download here:
Fabricio Loayza-Puch
Chong Sun

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About DKFZ

With more than 3,500 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.

To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:

  • National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT, 6 sites)
  • German Cancer Consortium (DKTK, 8 sites)
  • Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ) Heidelberg
  • Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON Mainz) - A Helmholtz Institute of the DKFZ
  • DKFZ-Hector Cancer Institute at the University Medical Center Mannheim
  • National Cancer Prevention Center (jointly with German Cancer Aid)

The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.

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