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Picture of Christina Ye

Immune related toxicity is a common side effect of treatment with Immune Checkpoint Blockers for cancer - but the degree to which the development of these side effects is related to overall oncological outcome is unclear. As an Academic Foundation Programme Trainee within OUCAGS (https://www.oucags.ox.ac.uk), I had a four month block of time to work in a lab to gain experience of research. I worked with Dr Benjamin Fairfax’s group in the WIMM/Department of Oncology to explore the relationship between immune toxicity and clinical outcomes. Working with other members of the group, and Dr Anna-Olsson Brown in Liverpool, we found that patients who developed immune related toxicity appeared to have better long-term clinical outcomes including overall survival. Indeed, we found the development of toxicity was a key predictor of the cancer responding to treatment. This work is currently in-press in the British Journal of Cancer.

This period of time in the lab stimulated my interest in research and helped in my decision to apply for an Academic Clinical Fellowship in Dermatology. I was successful in this and I have a further nine months of protected research built into my training this year, which I again plan to spend working in Ben’s group. As a trainee dermatologist I am particularly intrigued by the rash patients frequently develop when they first receive immunotherapy. There is evidence to suggest that another side effect of immunotherapy, colitis, is secondary to the activation of resident memory T cells. Conversely, when you look at the gene expression in CD8 T cells after treatment with checkpoint blockers you can see up-regulation of genes involved in skin trafficking. I will explore whether this rash is indicative of T cell trafficking to the skin, or activation of resident memory T cells, or something completely separate.

Cancer Research UK awards biannual pre-doctoral research bursaries, aimed at providing ‘short term funding to allow clinicians and other health professionals to get involved in research projects early in their career’. Ben encouraged me to apply to this CRUK scheme to further explore the mechanistic basis of the rash in immunotherapy and I am very grateful to have been awarded this funding. Personally I am hoping to gain training in immunological techniques and bioinformatic analysis during this period, and I hope the results we generate will provide further insights into the cells cancer immunotherapy affects and how it works.


Christina Ye is a trainee medic on core medical training