CAR-T Cell Therapy

As we have mentioned before, there is a type of treatment called CAR-T cell therapy. You may or may not know about it, but this therapy is revolutionary. It’s a type of cell therapy (cells used as medicine) that uses gene editing to make cells better at attacking cancer.

The type of cells used are T-cells, the immune system´s elite attackers against diseases such as cancer. Nevertheless, these specialized cells on their native form still have room for improvement. This is why, using viral vector transformation, a gene is introduced to the cell.  These gene gives the instruction to the cell to make a powerful molecule that is kept on the cell surface. This molecule, called Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) is a tool that helps the cell recognize and attack cancer cells that hide from regular T cells. This approach has been used to treat blood malignancies such as leukemia. 

Even though this treatment is revolutionary and highly effective, it is still considered a last resource for patients. The reason is that there is still much we need to learn about the side effects for it to be a first choice to treat patients. Currently, it is only used for relapsed or refractory cancers. As of January 2019, the only two therapies approved by the FDA are Kymriah (Novartis) and Yescarta (Gilead). The prediction is that more will be approved in the future as there are close to 200 in clinical trials. The promise lays in that it may one day be available to treat solid tumors, which is the most common type of cancer. 

With CART-cells, there are two different types of treatment: patient derived cells (autologous) and donor derived cells (allogenic). Both CAR-T cell therapies approved are autologous. Recently, an allogenic therapy has started clinical trials. Celyad´s CYAD-101 drug has entered a phase 1 trial for metastatic colorectal cancer, a solid tumor malignancy. The trial has been dubbed Allo-SHRINK. This therapy produced the CAR called NKG2D that recognizes the specific type of cancer. This trial is for dose escalation and expansion and runs in parallel with the trial for its autologous counter part CYAD-01. This proves that there are efforts being made to develop this new therapy into our main way to cure cancer. 

At Nitrocel, we help bring this technology further by making it cheaper and more accessible for patients with our manufacturing technologies.

References:

Despite Progress With CAR T-Cell Therapy, Transplant Retains Role in Myeloma. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2019, from https://www.onclive.com/web-exclusives/despite-progress-with-car-t-cell-therapy-transplant-retains-role-in-myeloma

Inacio, P. (2018, December 21). Donor-derived CAR T-cell Therapy Begins Testing in Colorectal Cancer, Celyad Announces. Retrieved January 10, 2019, from https://immuno-oncologynews.com/2018/12/21/celyads-cyad-101-donor-derived-car-t-cell-therapy-phase-1-trial-dosing-colorectal-cancer/