UM scholar gives talk on research on immune checkpoints in cancer

The University of Macau (UM) held the 29th UM Scholar Research Forum today (25 November), where Tang Zhenghai, assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at UM, delivered a talk titled ‘Immune Checkpoints in Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities’. The talk was well attended, with many students and faculty participating in person and online.

During the talk, Prof Tang outlined the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment. He noted that although there has been remarkable progress in the use of these inhibitors over the past decade, more than 70% of patients still do not benefit from them, largely because the understanding of immune checkpoint mechanisms remains limited. He explained that tumour immune checkpoints inhibit immune cells through both trans and cis interactions, and based on this insight, he developed a new therapeutic antibody with significant anti‑tumour effects.

Tang Zhenghai

The Q&A and discussion session