Using our own immune cells to target and kill cancer
Researchers at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê are pioneering groundbreaking cancer treatments which reprogramme the patient’s own immune system to recognise and kill cancerous cells.
13 January 2020
CAR T-cell therapies are developed by harvesting T-cells, a type of lymphocyte, from a patient’s blood and genetically re-engineering them outside the body, so that they can recognise and destroy cancer cells.Ìý
This reprogramming is achieved by introducing a gene for an artificial protein called a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR for short.
Using the body’s immune system to fight cancer avoids some of the common side effects of conventional therapies, as non-cancerous cells are not targeted by the t-cells.
In a number of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê TRO supported projects,ÌýMartin Pule’s laboratory at the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Cancer Institute is leading the way in developing new CAR T-cell therapies and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê currently ranks top in Europe and second in the world for the number of inventions and patent applications in relation to this revolutionary treatment
In addition, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê’s CAR T-cell programme, which involves researchers at the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Cancer Institute and clinicians at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊH and GOSH, is the largest in Europe. This ‘cancer campus’ currently has 10 clinical trials open which use technology developed at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê.