BRAIN AND BRAIN TUMOR IMMUNOLOGY

Lois A. Lampson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Neurosurgery home page Department of Neurosurgery Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 221 Longwood Avenue / LMRC 111 Boston MA 02114 lampson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu CV, Training opportunities in Lampson lab

CNS immunology. The immune / inflammatory network plays a role in most CNS disorders. It is relevant to beneficial responses against tumor or infection, unwanted responses in graft rejection or autoimmunity, neurodegenerative disorders such as MS, AD or PD, and perhaps psychiatric disorders. We focus on two topics with broad implications.

1. Subtleties of immune regulation. We have pioneered in showing that immune regulation in the brain is site-specific, and influenced by local neurochemicals. Whether the goal is to increase the response or reduce it, the optimal regimen will depend on the site within the brain. Site-specific regulation I, Site-specific regulation II, Local neurochemicals and immune control

2. Micro-tumor therapy. Our goal is to exploit migratory cells to reach and attack tumor that cannot be imaged or accessed in other ways. This micro-tumor includes residual or disseminated components of primary brain tumors, and micro-metastases from other organs. As larger tumor masses come under better control, micro-tumor is increasingly important. Our study of the subtleties of immune regulation (1., above) helps us to find the most benign regimens. New basic understanding, plus new methods, have renewed interest in tumor immunotherapy. Recent work has focused on identifying tumor antigens and developing vaccines against them. We now focus on the next steps, beyond vaccines: enhancing T cell/tumor interactions and T cell triggering at the tumor site. Brain tumor models, Site-specific immunotherapy

Micro-tumor (blue spots) has spread through the brain in a rat model.