STING Project: Strategies for intrahepatic and intratumoral activation of sting as a form of immunotherapy for chronic hepatitis B and primary and metastatic liver cancer.

Project information

The innate immune response is a defense mechanism that is activated by the interaction of certain molecular patterns present in pathogens. The cGAS/STING pathway is one of those that most potently induces the production of type I interferon (IFN), a factor that has direct antiviral effects and promotes the triggering of adaptive immune responses. 

On this basis we have proposed:

(a) that STING activation in the liver could eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) in models of chronic HBV infection.

b) that STING activation in tumor tissue could constitute an effective form of cancer immunotherapy applied either alone or as an adjuvant to treatment with immune check-point inhibitors (ICI), such as anti-PD1 antibodies. 

These targets are very relevant for the clinic since current treatments for chronic hepatitis B do not eliminate the viral genome from the liver and have to be maintained indefinitely. Regarding its use as a cancer immunotherapy, there is a great need to look for adjuvant immunotherapies that convert non-responders to ICI into responders.

This project has received a 50% co-funded grant from the European Regional Development Fund through the ERDF Operational Program 2014-2020 of Navarra.

• Start date: November 18, 2019
• End date: November 17, 2022
• Funder: Gobierno de Navarra / Departamento de Salud
• Nature of project: National