Helping T cells fight triple-negative breast cancer with a tiny implanted immune scaffold
Official title: Immunomodulatory biomaterial to enhancing T-cell responses to triple negative breast cancer
Funded at Symphony Biosciences, INC. · NIH-11193981 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses a small injected “synthetic lymph node” placed at biopsy or surgery to help a person’s own T cells better attack triple-negative breast cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 2 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Symphony Biosciences, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Santa Monica, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $987,911 |
| NIH project number | 5R44CA281563-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11193981 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be people with triple-negative breast cancer who are having a biopsy or surgical removal of their tumor and could receive a local injection at that time.
✕Less likely to help
People with other cancer types, widespread metastatic disease not amenable to local treatment, or those who cannot undergo biopsy/surgery are unlikely to benefit from this specific local scaffold approach.
What this research studies
Researchers are developing a synthetic scaffold called SymphNode that can be injected at the time of biopsy or surgery to act like a local lymph node. The scaffold is designed to recruit tumor-experienced immune cells, boost their activation, and reduce local immune-suppressing cells in the tumor area. Work focuses on engineering the biomaterial to promote durable T-cell responses against triple-negative breast cancer and to reduce the chance of tumor recurrence. The team aims to translate these lab and preclinical findings into a therapy that could be offered to patients during their initial surgical care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could start immune treatment right at surgery and strengthen a patient’s own T-cell response to lower recurrence risk.
How similar studies have gone: Related biomaterial immune-scaffold approaches have shown promising anti-tumor effects in animal studies, but they remain largely untested in humans so far.
Where this research is happening
-
Symphony Biosciences, INC.
Santa Monica, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dashtimoghadam, Erfan — Symphony Biosciences, INC.
- Study coordinator: Dashtimoghadam, Erfan
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Genomic study to understand how genetics and epigenetics shape triple-negative breast cancer in African ancestry
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A study aims to block two cancer-promoting pathways (IL-6 and CDK4/6) to prevent or reduce progression of triple-negative breast cancer in women veterans.
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Dormancy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: How Liver and Skin Metastases Go Quiet or Reactivate
Researchers will study how dormant cancer cells in liver and skin metastases of triple-negative breast cancer become quiescent or wake up, using organ-on-chip models and single-cell analysis to map chromatin states.
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Rac-enhanced CAR-Macrophages against TNBC
A new cell therapy approach uses engineered macrophages with a CAR and Rac2 activation to target and kill triple-negative breast cancer cells expressing CSPG4.
-
A new peptide therapy to help treat metastatic triple-negative breast cancer
A new peptide therapy called PEG-FUD is being tested to help treat metastatic triple-negative breast cancer by normalizing the tumor environment to improve treatment delivery.
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.