James W. Hodge, PhD, MBA, National Cancer Institute/NIH

The Hodge laboratory is focused on two areas: immunogenic modulation and immune subset conditioning. Immunogenic modulation describes the mechanism of how anticancer therapies alter the biology of the surviving tumor cells to render them more sensitive to immune mediated killing. Immunogenic modulation encompasses a spectrum of molecular alterations in the biology of the cancer cell that independently or collectively make the tumor more amenable to cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)â??mediated destruction. Immune subset conditioning describes how anticancer therapies mediate the peripheral and/or intratumoral reduction of negative regulatory elements into a more immune-permissive environment for vaccine immunotherapy. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of these areas provide a rationale for the use of immunotherapy in combination with radiation, chemotherapy, small molecule inhibitors, and immune modulators.