Most patients with solid tumors do not respond to immune checkpoint blockade, often because their tumors lack sufficient cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) can expand these cells but has been limited clinically due to rapid clearance, toxicity, and stimulation of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. In my dissertation, I exploited nanoparticles displaying dense, wild-type IL-2 to preferentially expand CD8+ T cells within tumors, generating durable systemic antitumor immunity and improving responses to checkpoint blockade.
