# Layer-by-Layer Nanoparticles for Combination Cytokine Immunotherapy of Ovarian Cancer

> **NIH NIH F32** · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2020 · $24,894

## Abstract

The cancer immunotherapy revolution is here, but with thousands of new tools available preclinically and
clinically there are new questions regarding how they ought to be combined to best stimulate anti-tumor
immunity. Unlike other anti-cancer therapies which act directly upon tumor cells, immunotherapy acts on a
complex network of the immune system that operates across large spatial and temporal scales further
complicating their use. One logical tool to reprogram the immune response should be proinflammatory cytokines,
but their application has been limited by delivery strategies that have been unable to allow for high concentrations
of the cytokines within the tumor without toxicity. The proposed study will adapt a new nanoparticle tool that has
been used to deliver one potent cytokine (IL-12) to other cytokines (IL-2, IL-15, and IL-18). Those particles will
be tested as single agents for antitumor effects, immune stimulation, and toxicity and then in combination. Finally,
a new generation of immunotherapy delivery vehicles will be developed that can control the release of multiple
cytokines from a single nanoparticle. These tests will take place using novel models of ovarian cancer – a disease
notably unresponsive to existing immunotherapies and which suffers from dismal survival rates. Overall this
study will provide important new immunological insights in ovarian cancer, further the development of clinically
relevant toolkits for inflammatory cytokines, and prepare a new investigator for an independent research career
in immunoengineering.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9991970
- **Project number:** 1F32CA247210-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sean Gregory Smith
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $24,894
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2021-01-08

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9991970

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9991970, Layer-by-Layer Nanoparticles for Combination Cytokine Immunotherapy of Ovarian Cancer (1F32CA247210-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9991970. Licensed CC0.

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