Boosting immune attack against kidney cancer by activating both innate and adaptive immunity
Official title: Project 3: Maximizing Anti-tumor Activity through Simultaneous Activation of the Innate and Adaptive Immune System in Kidney Cancer
Funded at Ut Southwestern Medical Center · NIH-11145087 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tries to improve cure rates for people with metastatic kidney cancer who only partially respond to initial immunotherapy by adding focused radiation and a new immune-stimulating drug to standard treatment.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ut Southwestern Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Dallas, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2016 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $259,666 |
| NIH project number | 5P50CA196516-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11145087 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who received induction ipilimumab plus nivolumab and have stable disease (not progressive disease) after that initial treatment.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who have clear disease progression after induction, cannot tolerate immunotherapy or radiation, or have medical conditions preventing biopsies or the investigational drug are unlikely to benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If your cancer only shows a partial or stable response after standard ipilimumab plus nivolumab, the team plans to add stereotactic (targeted) radiation to tumors and give a novel STING agonist to stimulate innate immunity alongside ongoing checkpoint therapy. Doctors will collect tumor biopsies and blood samples to track immune changes and measure whether tumors shrink more completely. The work combines patient treatment with laboratory studies to understand how activating both immune arms might improve outcomes. The project is led at UT Southwestern and focuses on people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who have an unmet need after induction therapy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could raise complete response and long-term survival rates for people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who currently get only partial benefit from immunotherapy.
How similar studies have gone: Checkpoint inhibitors like ipilimumab/nivolumab have produced durable cures in a minority of patients, but combining focused radiation with new innate immune stimulators such as STING agonists is promising yet still early and experimental.
Where this research is happening
-
Ut Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hannan, Raquibul — Ut Southwestern Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Hannan, Raquibul
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Maximizing anti-tumor immune responses in kidney cancer
A cutting-edge program at UT Southwestern aims to speed up better immunotherapy options for kidney cancer by studying how to activate both innate and adaptive immune responses.
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Kidney Cancer Career Enhancement Program (CEP) at DF/HCC
A career-boosting program supports junior investigators studying kidney cancer to help them advance in basic, translational, and clinical work.
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Kidney Cancer Development Program at DF/HCC
A funded program at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Kidney Cancer Center supports new ideas from researchers to improve understanding and treatment of kidney cancer.
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Personalized antigens for kidney cancer therapy
This grant explores identifying and targeting tumor-specific antigens in kidney cancer to develop more effective, personalized immunotherapies.
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Optimizing Anti-PD1 Therapy for High-Risk and Metastatic Kidney Cancer
A large cancer research grant is testing how best to use anti-PD-1 therapy to help people with high-risk and metastatic kidney cancer live longer and with fewer side effects.
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Targeting the HIF2 Pathway in Kidney Cancer
A cancer treatment program aims to see if a drug called belzutifan can help people with a specific kind of kidney cancer whose growth is driven by the HIF2 pathway.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.