by Immunotherapies have transformed cancer treatment by leveraging the body’s immune system to combat cancer cells and inhibit tumor growth. However, these therapies are often customized for individual patients, leading to a time-consuming and expensive process. The cost of these treatments can escalate to hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient. To address these challenges, a team of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has devised a new method to engineer more potent invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells for an off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy.
iNKT cells, a type of immune cell, have the potential to target and eliminate various cancer types. However, their use in Immunotherapy Drugs has been limited due to the complexities involved in engineering and expanding these cells for clinical applications. In a groundbreaking study published in Nature Biotechnology, UCLA researchers have developed a clinically guided approach to engineer iNKT cells, paving the way for mass production of cell therapies like CAR-T cell therapy.
Lili Yang, the study’s senior author and a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, as well as a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA and the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, explains the significance of this new system in advancing a universal cell product to clinical trials.
Yang and her team have engineered iNKT cells to express a specific receptor that recognizes a unique antigen found on various cancer types. By using this approach, they have successfully expanded the engineered iNKT cells in large quantities, making them suitable for use in multiple patients. This novel technology represents a major leap forward in enabling the mass production of cell therapies, making these life-saving treatments more affordable and accessible to a broader range of patients.
The researchers believe that this new method could potentially revolutionize cancer treatment by providing an off-the-shelf solution that can be used to treat multiple patients, reducing both the time and cost associated with personalized cell therapies. Further studies are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this approach in clinical trials.
In summary, UCLA researchers have developed a clinically guided method to engineer iNKT cells for an off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy, marking a significant step toward making these life-saving treatments more accessible and affordable for a broader range of patients.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
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