What ASFL currently funds?
(written by Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center)
Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive type of brain tumor and carries an exceedingly poor prognosis. Immunotherapy has the promise of eliminating cancer cells in the brain while leaving all other healthy tissues intact. T cells are the most potent mediators of the antitumor immune response, though very few of these cells have the natural capacity to recognize and eliminate cancer on their own.
T cells can be trained to recognize tumors through a genetic modification known as the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). These artificial receptors are inserted into T cells, sensitizing them against targets expressed in tumor tissue. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain blood cancers, where they have transformed the landscape of therapy and successfully eradicated even advanced, relapsed, and refractory disease. Our objective in the MGH Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory is to further develop this approach for solid tumors, especially aggressive cancers that arise in the brain.
Successful preclinical work on a novel CAR T cell for brain tumors (CART.BiTE), designed by Dr. Bryan Choi and Dr. Marcela Maus, was published in 2019 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. This construct is now being tested as the first ever cell therapy for patients with glioblastoma at Mass General Hospital this year in a trial spearheaded by Dr. William Curry and colleagues. The tremendous support from A Shot For Life is instrumental in enabling our group to execute studies that enhance our understanding of the immune system in the context of malignant brain tumors and provides hope that we can continue to provide meaningful, new therapies for our patients. Thanks to ASFL for leading the way and making it all possible.
Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive type of brain tumor and carries an exceedingly poor prognosis. Immunotherapy has the promise of eliminating cancer cells in the brain while leaving all other healthy tissues intact. T cells are the most potent mediators of the antitumor immune response, though very few of these cells have the natural capacity to recognize and eliminate cancer on their own.
T cells can be trained to recognize tumors through a genetic modification known as the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). These artificial receptors are inserted into T cells, sensitizing them against targets expressed in tumor tissue. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain blood cancers, where they have transformed the landscape of therapy and successfully eradicated even advanced, relapsed, and refractory disease. Our objective in the MGH Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory is to further develop this approach for solid tumors, especially aggressive cancers that arise in the brain.
Successful preclinical work on a novel CAR T cell for brain tumors (CART.BiTE), designed by Dr. Bryan Choi and Dr. Marcela Maus, was published in 2019 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. This construct is now being tested as the first ever cell therapy for patients with glioblastoma at Mass General Hospital this year in a trial spearheaded by Dr. William Curry and colleagues. The tremendous support from A Shot For Life is instrumental in enabling our group to execute studies that enhance our understanding of the immune system in the context of malignant brain tumors and provides hope that we can continue to provide meaningful, new therapies for our patients. Thanks to ASFL for leading the way and making it all possible.