Cancer-fighting CAR T cells show promising results for hard-to-treat tumours
A recent clinical trial published in Nature has demonstrated promising results for CAR T-cell therapy in treating solid tumours, specifically advanced gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancers. The experimental therapy, satricabtagene autoleucel (satri-cel), was administrered as a last resort in the patients included in this phase II trial, all of whom had previously undergone at least […]
EchoBack CAR T-cells could be a game changer in cancer immunotherapy
Researchers have introduced a next-generation CAR T-cell therapy, called EchoBack CAR T-cells, in a study published in Cell. Designed to address key limitations of current immunotherapies for solid tumors, including off-tumor toxicity, T-cell exhaustion, and limited persistence, this platform uses sonogenetic engineering to remotely activate CAR T-cells via focused ultrasound (FUS). It employs an ultrasensitive […]
Researchers develop tool to enhance NK cells against cancer
One of the functions of Natural Killer (NK) cells is to detect and eliminate cancer cells. However, in some cases they are unable to overcome the tumour’s defence mechanism, and cancer develops. To date, NK lymphocyte-based treatments have been effective in haematological tumours, but have not achieved the same level of efficacy in solid tumours. […]
New supercharged CAR-T cell therapy shows promise against resistant cancers
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment by engineering a patient’s T-cells to target and eliminate malignant cells. However, certain cancers still evade detection, leading to treatment resistance and relapse. American researchers have recently introduced an innovative approach known as ALA-CART (adjunctive LAT-activating CAR-T cells), designed to overcome these challenges. In preclinical […]
Cancer-free for 18 years: CAR-T therapy sets new milestone in neuroblastoma treatment
Neuroblastoma, a highly aggressive childhood cancer, presents a high risk of relapse, making long-term disease control a significant challenge. A groundbreaking study published in Nature Medicine has demonstrated that GD2-directed CAR-T cell therapy can induce durable remissions, with one patient remaining cancer-free for over 18 years, the longest reported remission for a solid tumor treated with […]
New gene modification enhances CAR-T cell effectiveness against cancer
Although clinicians have successfully used CAR-T cells in cancer, many patients experience a cancer relapse caused by the hostile environment created by the cancer cells. After repeated encounters with cancer cells, CAR-T cells lose their ability to effectively divide and attack the tumour. Therefore, a research team used CRISPR screening to identify potential genes that […]
New findings could make off-the-shelf CAR T cell therapy a reality
One of the main limitations of CAR-T cells is that the cells are taken from the patient and have to be customized for treatment. This forces patients to wait for their cells to be modified for infusion, which is precious time they may not have. Research has demonstrated a new advance that could allow standard […]
New therapeutic target could boost CAR T-cell therapy success in solid tumors
CAR-T therapy treatments have proven effective in patients with blood tumors, however, their efficacy in solid tumors has been limited due to a variety of factors, including the tumor microenvironment. For this reason, researchers used a 3D microfluidic model made from patient-derived organotypic tumor spheroids (PDOTS) to study the mechanisms of treatment resistance of CAR-T […]
Genome editing with the HDR-enhancing DNA-PKcs inhibitor AZD7648 causes large-scale genomic alterations
The CRISPR-Cas9 molecular complex is the tool most widely used by scientists around the world. It cuts double-stranded DNA at the exact point where the genetic material is to be modified. The cut activates two natural repair mechanisms, including homology-directed repair. To induce the cell to use this repair, researchers have recently begun using a […]
Barcoding small extracellular vesicles with new CRISPR-based system
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a groundbreaking CRISPR-based barcoding system to study small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), nanosized particles crucial in intercellular communication and disease progression. The system uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to introduce RNA barcodes into sEVs, allowing thousands of genes to be analyzed simultaneously in a single pooled experiment. CIBER (CRISPR-assisted […]
