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Dermatology Lab
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A dermatology lab exploring ways to make cancer immunotherapy more effective.
AboutAbout the lab
Making cancer immunotherapy work better.
The Dermatology Lab conducts research to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of cancer immunotherapy.
Focusing on melanoma, which responds best to immune checkpoint inhibitors and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, the lab examines in detail what happens in the bodies and tumors of patients who have received these treatments.
In its research, the lab has long focused on inflammation, immunity, and allergy, and has put effort into training young researchers while collaborating with other departments and institutions.
The lab currently also conducts clinical research on the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers such as melanoma, with an eye toward new forms of care, including telemedicine.
Key terms
- Immune checkpoint inhibitor
- A drug that releases the brakes on the immune system so that T cells can attack cancer cells
- Melanoma
- A malignant tumor arising from the cells that produce skin pigment; a type of skin cancer
- Single-cell RNA sequencing
- A method that separates cells one by one and comprehensively examines which genes are active in each
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
Immune checkpoint inhibitors and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, leading examples of cancer immunotherapy, work best against melanoma. The lab examines in detail what happens in the bodies and tumors of patients who have actually received these treatments, and explores ways to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of cancer immunotherapy.
*Illustrative imageHow cancer escapes the immune system
When attacked by the immune system, cancer cells activate mechanisms that let them slip past it. The lab studies these previously unknown mechanisms of cancer immune evasion in order to clarify them and find countermeasures.
*Illustrative imageDistinguishing the T cells that should be activated
Cancer immunotherapy can activate not only T cells that attack cancer but also T cells that attack healthy tissue. The lab is looking for markers that tell the two apart, and is developing methods to activate only the desired T cells, strongly and for a long time.
*Illustrative imageStudying T cells with single-cell RNA sequencing
The lab aims to accurately find, among the many kinds of T cells in the body, those that can recognize and attack cancer. By combining single-cell RNA sequencing with technology to capture and expand those T cells in vitro, it comprehensively characterizes them.
*Illustrative imageVitiligo caused by immunotherapy
In melanoma immunotherapy, activated T cells can destroy melanocytes in the skin and cause vitiligo. The lab captures and analyzes the T cells responsible for the attack, and is developing methods to suppress autoimmune phenomena, including vitiligo.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Dermatology Lab are faculty, hospital physicians, specialty residents, clinical laboratory technologists, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakashi Inozume
- LecturerYaei Togawa
- Assistant ProfessorRena Oguma
- Assistant ProfessorChie Urasaki
- Assistant ProfessorYu Kawahara
- Assistant ProfessorKazuhiro Aoyama
- Project Assistant ProfessorShuli Zhu
- Project Assistant ProfessorYuka Saeki
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Histopathology of a metastatic melanoma to a lymph node” Mikael Häggström, M.D. / CC0 (cropped)
- How cancer escapes the immune system: “Cells of the immune system” Jeanne Kelly / Public domain (cropped)
- Distinguishing the T cells that should be activated: “Healthy Human T Cell” NIAID/NIH / Public domain (cropped)
- Studying T cells with single-cell RNA sequencing: “Flow cytometry scheme” Kwz at Polish Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Vitiligo caused by immunotherapy: “Vitiligo and Poliosis” Klaus D. Peter, Gummersbach, Germany / CC BY 3.0 de (cropped)
- Related lab (Immune Cell Medicine Lab): “Лаборант готовит индивидуальный иммунологический препарат против рака из крови пациента” Иоанна Чернова / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (General Thoracic Surgery Lab): “3D CT of thorax” Mikael Häggström / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Functional Genomics Lab): “3a6p xpo5 ran miRNA” Opabinia regalis / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Developmental and Regenerative Medicine Lab): “Mouse MOB three color” Matt Valley / Public domain (cropped)
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