Distinguished iNANO Lecture by Clinical Professor Marco Donia, Copenhagen University Hospital

Focus of the talk 
How can cancer immunotherapies cure cancer, what happens when they don’t work, and what we can do about it. 

Background, content description of the talk 
50% of all patients with metastatic cancer are eligible to receive treatments that use the immune system to fight their tumors. While some patients with widely metastatic cancers are cured by current cancer immunotherapies, less than 20% of all patients benefit and many suffer from serious side effects.

In this talk, we will review the contemporary immunotherapies used in the clinic when they work, when they don’t work, when they work initially but then stop working, and what we could do about it.

Relevance to nanoscience 
Nanotechnologies may reshape the way cancer immunotherapies are delivered

References 
Garitaonaindia Y, Witteveen S, Dionisio E, Weiss A, Ellebaek E, Rolfo C, Provencio M, Blank C, Donia M. Prognostic dynamics of pathological complete response and ctDNA clearance after neoadjuvant and perioperative immunotherapy across solid tumors. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 (In Press)

Garitaonaindia Y, Andersen R, Presti M, Donia M. Acquired Resistance to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Across Tumor Types: A Reconstructed Individual Patient Data Analysis. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2026 May 7:1-7. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2025.7142.

Granhøj JS, Mannering SMH, Madsen K, W Hendel H, Draghi A, Jedema I, Lievense J, Nijenhuis C, Nuijen B, V Zon M, W Rohaan M, Tak WS, Klobuch S, Borch TH, Met Ö, Haanen J, Donia M, Svane IM. Phenotypic and Functional Characteristics of CD8+ T cells Predict Clinical Outcome Following TIL Therapy in a Randomized Phase III Trial in Advanced Melanoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2026.

Lauss M, Phung B, Borch TH, Harbst K, Kaminska K, Ebbesson A, Hedenfalk I, Yuan J, Nielsen K, Ingvar C, Carneiro A, Isaksson K, Pietras K, Svane IM, Donia M*, Jönsson G*. Molecular patterns of resistance to immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma. Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 9;15(1):3075. 

Rohaan MW, Borch TH, van den Berg JH, Met Ö, Kessels R, Geukes Foppen MH, Stoltenborg Granhøj J, Nuijen B, Nijenhuis C, Jedema I, van Zon M, Scheij S, Beijnen JH, Hansen M, Voermans C, Noringriis IM, Monberg TJ, Holmstroem RB, Wever LDV, van Dijk M, Grijpink-Ongering LG, Valkenet LHM, Torres Acosta A, Karger M, Borgers JSW, Ten Ham RMT, Retèl VP, van Harten WH, Lalezari F, van Tinteren H, van der Veldt AAM, Hospers GAP, Stevense-den Boer MAM, Suijkerbuijk KPM, Aarts MJB, Piersma D, van den Eertwegh AJM, de Groot JB, Vreugdenhil G, Kapiteijn E, Boers-Sonderen MJ, Fiets WE, van den Berkmortel FWPJ, Ellebaek E, Hölmich LR, van Akkooi ACJ, van Houdt WJ, Wouters MWJM, van Thienen JV, Blank CU, Meerveld-Eggink A, Klobuch S, Wilgenhof S, Schumacher TN, Donia M, Svane IM, Haanen JBAG. Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy or Ipilimumab in Advanced Melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2022 Dec 8;387(23):2113-2125.