Immunotherapy: a new player
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Minnesota have shown that natural T-killers (NK) grown from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) can be used in CAR-T therapy instead of modified patient T-lymphocytes.
In recent years, immunotherapy based on CAR-T cells has attracted considerable attention from researchers and investors. T-lymphocytes taken from the patient's blood are genetically modified to synthesize a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), which is able to bind to a specific protein on the surface of the patient's cancer cells. These cells are created in large numbers in the laboratory, and then injected into the patient's blood.
Trials of the effectiveness of CAR-T therapy demonstrate promising successes, but there are also certain difficulties. First, the cells must be isolated from the blood of each patient. This is a long and expensive process. In addition, immunotherapy involves working only with a specific patient. But some patients may not be able to provide T cells or have no time to modify them due to the rapid progression of the tumor. This means that not all patients can receive potentially effective treatment with CAR-T cells.
The use of NK has a number of advantages over other T-lymphocytes, including the ability to create ready-to-use cells without the patient's participation.
In addition, one batch of NK cells obtained by iPSC could potentially be used to treat thousands of patients. In other words, researchers can develop standardized "off-the-shelf" therapies and use them in combination with other cancer drugs.
CAR-T therapy is sometimes associated with serious adverse effects, including sudden organ failure and death. Previous studies by Dan Kaufman and colleagues show that NK does not cause similar effects, one article describes several side effects in mice.
Thus, NK can be safer to use.
In their studies, the authors tested CAR-NK derived from human iPSCs on mouse models with implanted ovarian cancer and compared their antitumor activity with other versions of NK and CAR-T cells. CAR-NK demonstrated activity similar to CAR-T cells, but with less toxicity.
Despite the fact that the results were obtained on ovarian cancer models, NK obtained from iPSC can be used for immunotherapy of other solid tumors, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, brain tumors, as well as various leukemias.
Article by Y. Li et al. Human iPSC-Derived Natural Killer Cells Engineered with Chimeric Antigen Receptors Enhance Anti-tumor Activity is published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru According to UC San Diego News Center: CAR-T Immunotherapies May Have a New Player.