Vincent Lok envisions a future where the body’s own immune system becomes a more powerful
tool for combatting cancer than conventional chemotherapy.
As an student in the , Lok is advancing that vision through his research at . His work seeks to expand the potential use of a promising treatment approach developed
by Moffitt researchers known as dendritic cell (DC) immunotherapy.
DC immunotherapy uses specialized immune cells to alert the immune system to the presence
of cancer. Acting as messengers, these cells train the body’s cancer-fighting T cells
to identify and target tumors.
In clinical trials at Moffitt, has shown robust tumor regression in HER2-positive breast cancer, a form of the disease
driven by high levels of a protein that promotes cancer cell growth.
The Czerniecki lab members: Isabella Valenzuela, Doris Wiener, Dr. Brian Czerniecki, Ganesan Ramamoorthi, Colin Snyder, Amy Aldrich, Vincent Lok. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Lok)
Lok has witnessed the therapy’s promise firsthand. For three years, he has trained under , chair and senior member in the Moffitt Cancer Center Department of Breast Oncology, who has developed dendritic cell vaccines and therapies.
"I've had the opportunity to see Dr. Czerniecki with patients who have been treated with the therapy that he’s been working with for the past 20 years," Lok said. “We’ve seen tremendous clinical safety with only mild flu-like symptoms and clearance of systemic metastasis, despite only being injected in the primary site.”
Lok’s research aims to take these efforts a step further by extending that same immunotherapy
to a broader spectrum of cancers, including metastatic cancers that can no longer
be surgically removed.
He is exploring whether lipid antigens — fat-based molecules that activate immune
cells — can enhance dendritic cell therapy to be effective against many types of cancer.
The treatment involves removing cells from a patient and exposing them to cancer-related
antigens, before reinjecting the cells back into tumors. This allows the dendritic
cells to present those antigens to other immune cells and train them to attack cancer
cells carrying the markers.
“There is an urgent need to find therapies that are better than standard chemotherapy, since these treatments have many side effects and don’t provide lasting immune memory against recurrence or relapse,” Lok said.
“With dendritic cell therapy, we could completely avoid chemotherapy and toxic regimens altogether. I believe it can become the standard of care.”
Vincent Lok, MD-PhD Student
Findings from Lok's research and other studies at Czerniecki's lab have helped support
compassionate-use programs, which give patients with stage IV metastatic cancer access
to experimental therapies outside traditional clinical trials. These carefully regulated
programs, which require FDA and IRB approval, provide eligible patients an opportunity
to receive investigational DC therapies before they become part of standard cancer
care.
Czerniecki said that Lok’s work has already advanced the field’s understanding of
how dendritic cell therapy can stimulate a broader immune response, with direct implications
for patients with metastatic cancer.
Graphic illustration of dendritic cells in blue using long extensions to sample the environment and present antigens to T-cells. (Photo source: Adobe)
“Lok has identified how invariant natural killer T cells can change the tumor microenvironment
so that when we administer dendritic cells, the innate immune response contributes
to causing tumors to go away,” Czerniecki said. "It has actually helped patients with
metastatic cancer have their breast cancer disappear completely.”
While Lok’s discoveries are helping advance new immunotherapies, his groundbreaking
research was made possible because of the MD-PhD program’s close partnership with
Moffitt, where students can train and research alongside nationally renowned cancer
physician-scientists.
, associate center director for research education and training at Moffitt and professor
of oncologic sciences at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said MD-PhD students
like Lok play a critical role in driving innovation because they are uniquely positioned
to bridge scientific discovery and patient care.
Dr. Charles Lockwood (center) with MD-PhD candidates (from left) Natasha Ram, Vincent Lok, Aahir Srinath, and Monica Moore, the MD-PhD program’s first graduate. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Lok)
"MD-PhD students bring incredible passion and drive along with an outstanding educational background, allowing them to identify and develop novel, clinically relevant research projects," Wright said. "The partnership with Moffitt further gives students the opportunity to train under world experts in cancer research and care, where they can directly contribute to cutting-edge research and see it translate into patient care in our clinics."
Lok, who is entering his sixth year of the eight-year program, expresses similar sentiments,
saying the chance to work at Moffitt as he completes his degree was a major factor
in his decision to attend USF Health.
“I wanted to not only study promising treatments but also see how they affect patients,
and the collaboration between USF Health and Moffitt offered exactly what I was looking
for,” he said. “I don't think at other institutions you would find such a deeply integrated,
bench-to-bedside model that you can experience here at USF.”
Learn more about USF Health’s .