So that there is no relapse
Multiple myeloma is a malignant tumor that develops in the bone marrow and is the second most common blood tumor. The frequency of myeloma is 3 per 100,000 population per year; men get sick a little more often.
Multiple myeloma often relapses after treatment. Researchers from the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah have tried to improve relapse-free time after treatment with a new mechanism for targeting cancer cells.
In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists have presented a new way to treat myeloma using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) T-cell therapy. They created CAR-T lymphocytes targeting the CD229 molecule, which is present on the surface of cancer cells of patients with myeloma throughout the disease. It is important to note that CD229 is also present in cancer stem cells, which are a source of resistance to treatment and recurrence of myeloma.
Immunotherapy, which activates the patient's own immune system to fight cancer, has proven to be highly effective in many blood tumors. Despite this, patients often experience only a short-term improvement, after which a relapse of the disease occurs.
In earlier work, the research team identified the CD229 protein in multiple myeloma cells and other B-cell cancer cells. To test whether CD229 is a good target for CAR-T lymphocytes, they constructed an entirely human antibody against CD229 and used it to produce CAR-T cells targeting CD229.
In a mouse model of multiple myeloma, it was shown that these CAR-T lymphocytes kill both adult and stem cancer cells. The result was also confirmed on stem cancer cells obtained from patients with multiple myeloma. It is important to note that the treatment of the tumor with anti-CD229 CAR-T cells resulted in a stable long-term response.
The researchers are currently planning to find out whether the new approach can be safely used to treat people. They hope to launch a clinical trial to gain a deeper understanding of the potential of targeting CD229 as a new therapy for multiple myeloma.
The article by S.V.Radhakrishnan et al. CD229 CAR T cells eliminate multiple myeloma and tumor propagating cells without fratricide is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of Utah: New CAR-T target yields promising results for multiple myeloma.