Biochemist Lingyin Li survived breast cancer at just 30 and now works to harness the human immune system to fight cancers that have long evaded treatment. T cells, she says, are powerful cancer killers, but they can be oblivious. She and her lab colleagues have discovered a masking enzyme that squelches the immune system’s “danger signals” and are now developing drugs to block that enzyme. She likens her work to an arms race between cancer and immunotherapy. “The cancers are not getting smarter, but we are,” Li tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your question. You can send questions to thefutureofeverything@stanford.edu. Episode Reference Links: Stanford Profile: Lingyin Li Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Russ Altman introduces guest Lingyin Li, a professor of biochemistry at Stanford University. (00:03:38) Research Motivation Lingyin explains how her breast cancer diagnosis inspired her research. (00:04:31) How T-Cells Work T-cell mechanisms and why they struggle to reach solid tumors. (00:05:38) Immune System Overview Innate and adaptive immunity and how mutations make cancer recognizable. (00:07:28) Awakening the Immune System Efforts to stimulate innate immune cells to detect and expose tumors. (00:10:54) The Cancer Signal Discovery of cancer-derived DNA signals that alert the immune system. (00:13:01) Cancer’s Evasion Mechanism How tumors destroy immune signals to hide from detection. (00:14:26) ENPP1 Enzyme Identification of ENPP1 as the enzyme enabling immune evasion. (00:15:22) Balancing Immunity and Safety Role of ENPP1 in autoimmunity and the challenge of targeting it safely. (00:19:30) ENPP1 Inhibitors Development of molecules to block ENPP1 and enhance immune signaling. (00:24:55) Preclinical Findings The promising results against aggressive solid tumors in animal studies (00:28:05) From Lab to Clinic The progress toward FDA approval and preparation for human testing. (00:31:04) Future In a Minute Rapid-fire Q&A: innovation, collaboration, and the outlook for cancer treatment. (00:33:14) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company.