E-Mail
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The University at Buffalo has received a $1.5 million grant from the United States Department of Defense to develop new therapies that help reduce chronic inflammation and immunosuppression in oral cancers.
Through the three-year grant, the research will center on a type of white blood cell called a macrophage that - after migrating to oral tumors - triggers uncontrolled inflammation, which suppresses the body s immune response and lowers the effectiveness of anticancer therapies.
The researchers aim to reprogram the macrophages by targeting genes that regulate inflammation. By lowering inflammation, oral cancers will become more sensitive to new and traditional chemotherapies.