To date, T cells modified to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have been too indiscriminate to use against solid tumors. Better-targeted CAR T cells, however, have been demonstrated in a preclinical study led by Avery Posey, PhD, an instructor in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Laura Johnson, PhD, director of the Solid Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory in the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, and Carl June, MD, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies. The research team describes how an antibody that recognizes the combination of a known cancer-associated surface protein and a cancer-associated carbohydrate can be applied as a CAR-based therapy for a wide range of solid tumors in this month's issue of Immunity. The team demonstrated the new CARs’ effectiveness in mouse models of pancreatic cancer.
Read the Department of Communications news release.