Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor, with an average survival after diagnosis of less than two years, and against which current treatments remain ineffective. In recent years, immunotherapies have given patients hope, albeit with relatively modest success. One research team has succeeded in identifying a specific marker, PTPRZ1, on the surface of tumour cells, and generating CAR-T cells to destroy them. Moreover, this CAR-T cell-based therapy appears to be able to target diseased tumor cells that do not carry this specific marker, while sparing healthy cells. The team tested the treatment in vivo on mouse models of human glioblastoma. Tumor growth was controlled, remarkably prolonging the life of the mice without signs of toxicity. These results, published in the journal Cancer Immunology Research, represent a first step towards the development of clinical trials with human patients.
