Thesis supervisor: Andrea Ladányi
Location of studies (in Hungarian): PTE ÁOK Pécs, Szigeti u. 12. Abbreviation of location of studies: ÁOK
Description of the research topic:
Recent studies have demonstrated that, besides providing valuable prognostic information concerning tumor progression and the outcome of the disease, investigations on immune cell infiltration in tumors may also contribute to predicting the efficiency of certain cancer treatment modalities. Based on these discoveries, we propose investigation of immune markers in oncologic patients treated with chemo-, radio- or targeted therapy as well as immunotherapy, and assess their applicability in predicting treatment response and the outcome of the disease. We plan to apply immunohistochemical staining for the detection of immune cell types that were proved of prognostic importance in previous studies, including dendritic cell and T-cell subtypes and B lymphocytes. Associations of the infiltrating cell densities of each cell types in pre- and posttreatment samples, as well as of their changes during therapy (when applicable) with response to treatment and survival would be evaluated, primarily in patients with melanoma, head and neck cancer and rectal cancer.