Engineered Immune Cells Show Promise in Killing Bowel Cancer Cells Resistant to Current Therapies

Strategic Insights -

Scientists at University College London have engineered a rare type of immune cell, ðþð³T cells, to survive longer and grow faster, and when supercharged with a B7-H3 antibody, they can use two methods of attack to kill cancer cells. This breakthrough could lead to new treatments for people with bowel cancer, especially those whose cancer has come back or doesn't respond to chemotherapy. The study, published in Cancer Research, used a powerful 'phenoscaping' tool to observe how the engineered ðþð³T cells and cancer cells reacted.

Key Takeaways:

  • Scientists at UCL have engineered ðþð³T cells to survive longer and grow faster, and when supercharged with a B7-H3 antibody, they can use two methods of attack to kill cancer cells.
  • The engineered ðþð³T cells were able to kill bowel cancer cells that do not respond to chemotherapy and lived far longer and multiplied more.
  • The study used a powerful 'phenoscaping' tool to observe how the engineered ðþð³T cells and cancer cells reacted, creating a detailed map of how cells behave and change.
  • ðþð³T cells are far less abundant than regular ððT cells and work in a slightly different way, simply sensing when cells are 'stressed' or behaving oddly and acting.
  • Engineered ðþð³T cells can be transferred from one person to another, allowing anti-cancer ðþð³T cells to be supplied by healthy donors.
  • The study found that while regular ðþð³T cells died or became weak when exposed to cancer, the engineered ðþð³T cells could survive for a long time using Antibody-Independent Cytotoxicity (AIC).
  • The supercharged ðþð³T cells, with the B7-H3 antibody, were able to restore their wiring and go on to kill the cancer cells, even the slow-growing ones that do not respond to chemotherapy.
  • The scientists hope to continue developing these engineered immune cells and eventually test them in clinical trials, which could become a new kind of therapy for bowel cancer and possibly other solid tumours.

Statistics:

  • Over 900,000 people die from bowel cancer every year.
  • More than 1,000 experimental conditions were studied to understand how ðþð³T cells interact with bowel cancer cells.
  • 7 healthy people were used as donors for the ðþð³T cells, and their cells were engineered with a lentivirus to insert a gene that boosts the cells.
  • 10 bowel cancer patients were used to create mini tumours, called organoids, to mimic the cancer's harsh environment.
  • The study used a powerful 'phenoscaping' tool to observe how the engineered ðþð³T cells and cancer cells reacted, creating a detailed map of how cells behave and change.

Sources:

  • University College London
  • Cancer Research
  • Cancer Research UK
  • UKRI Medical Research Council
  • The UCLH Biomedical Research Centre
  • The Academy of Medical Sciences
  • The UCL Tech Fund
  • The Little Princess Trust
  • The GOSH Charity
  • The Wellcome Trust