Oscar Wiklander

In oncology, precision medicine has gained tremendous attention in recent years with the hope to tailor treatments to specific disease driving alterations to improve treatment efficacy and reduce side effects. The need of improved diagnostic tools to identify these specific alterations has also spurred an intense development of various omics to pinpoint relevant biomarkers. Despite intense research, there is still a great need for improved tissue specific targeted drugs and improved diagnostics. The hypothesis of this proposal is that cell secreted exosomes (Exo) could be utilized as therapeutic targetable vectors and as improved cancer biomarkers. The aim is to engineer Exo as tailored targeted therapy and to explore circulating tumor Exo (tExo), acting as a fingerprint of the cancer and its current status, as improved biomarkers for early detection of relapsing cancer. The main objective of this project is to improve cancer care, building on current techniques and therapies, by using Exo as a therapeutic and diagnostic platform.

Despite the immense advances in oncology, not all patients respond to treatment and cancer cells may develop resistant mechanisms, leading to relapse and disseminated incurable disease. There is thus still a desperate need for improved cancer therapies as well as sensitive tools to detect early cancers and relapses. Exosomes (Exo) have the potential to offer a unique platform as a new class of therapeutics as well as a new sensitive diagnostic marker in form of liquid biopsy. Exo are nanometer sized extracellular vesicles that are secreted by all cells and found in all body fluids. Given that their content, including proteins and nucleic acids, is protected by a lipid membrane and reflects that of the source cell, Exo can function as a fingerprint of the patient’s cancer with the ability to reflect the current status of the tumor. In addition, Exo can be engineered to display targeting and therapeutic moieties and can shuttle their cargo over biological barriers. Exo can thus act as natural vectors and offers a unique platform for tailored tumor targeting. This program aims to investigate the potential of using Exo in precision medicine for improved cancer diagnostics and tailored targeted therapies. The first part of this project is to use bioengineered Exo to display antibodies against tumors and to deliver antitumor cargo, whereas the second part involves affinity capture of tumor Exo (tExo) as a liquid biopsy focusing on nucleic acid-based diagnostics.