A new study points to positive results for an immunotherapy treatment that could be used to target pancreatic cancer. The study, which was conducted with mice, showed that the treatment slowed the growth of cancer and extended the survival of the subjects.
In a recent press release, UCLA Health noted that researchers have developed a “novel immunotherapy” that could provide “new hope” for treating pancreatic cancer, which is one of the deadliest types of cancer. The press release explained that the therapy was developed by turning human stem cells into invariant natural killer T cells. Researchers also added a chimeric antigen receptor that allowed the cells to “attack tumors through multiple independent mechanisms simultaneously.”
“We’re essentially surrounding the tumor with no escape routes,” Dr. Yanruide Li, a postdoctoral scholar in the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center Training Program and the lead author of the study, stated. “Even when the cancer tries to evade one attack pathway by changing its molecular signature, our therapy is hitting it from multiple other angles at the same time. The tumor simply can’t adapt fast enough.”
“We hear from people almost every day wanting to know if our new cell therapy can help treat their loved ones,” Li added. “Meeting this critical unmet medical need is what drives us.”
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The press release noted that the cells needed for thousands of doses of the new immunotherapy treatment could be provided by a single donor, which could potentially allow patients access to a more affordable cancer treatment option.
According to the press release, the study included lab models that tested the therapy’s success when the cancer was placed directly into the pancreas and when the cancer spread from different organs. The engineered CAR-NKT cells were able to enter the subjects’ bodies, identify the cancer cells in multiple ways, and kill the cancer cells with different attack methods.
Following the completion of preclinical studies, UCLA Health confirmed that the research team is planning to submit applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials.
“Pancreatic cancer patients need better treatment options now,” Dr. Lili Yang, a senior author of the study and a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, said. “We’ve developed a therapy that’s potent, safe, scalable and affordable. The next critical step is proving it can deliver the same results in patients that we’ve seen in our preclinical work.”
