“Using one's own immune system to fight cancer instead of cytotoxins in chemotherapy is no longer a rarity. In Germany, there are more than two dozen centers where, for example, customized white blood cells – CAR-T cells – are used to treat leukemia and lymphoma. Thousands of patients have already been treated with them. And the spectrum of target tumors is constantly expanding, most recently in a clinical trial against solid tumors in the esophagus.
But as simple as it sometimes sounds ("immune cells kill cancer"), it is rarely that simple.
CAR-T cells are modified immune cells from the individual patient. Formally, they are medications. The T cells are taken from the bloodstream and manipulated using genetic engineering techniques before infusion. More precisely, genes have been inserted into their genome that allow the patient's immune system to recognize the cancer cells after they are transferred back into the blood and, ideally, destroy them.
Half a dozen such CAR-T cell therapies are approved, and hundreds more are in various stages of clinical development. The goal is always twofold: first, increasing the effectiveness of cancer treatment, and second, mitigating the significant side effects. The effort and expense involved are enormous. The customized design and manipulation of T cells in the laboratory result in treatment costs of one hundred to three hundred thousand euros per patient—with a generally moderate increase in life expectancy, which can be significant for the individual, but statistically is more in the range of months.
A specialized company based in San Diego, California, has now demonstrated in a series of studies how CAR-T immunotherapy could take a completely new direction after twenty years: cheaper, gentler, more efficient. In "Science," Theresa Hunter of Capstan Therapeutics Inc., together with several leading US immunotherapists, reported on a CAR-T cell treatment that takes place exclusively in the patient's body. No removal of the immune cells, no additional chemotherapeutic preparation of the patient's immune system, no time-consuming and costly genetic engineering in the laboratory – all of this is no longer necessary.
Instead, the T cells patrolling the body are modified on the spot: through a flow of information in the blood. The technology is reminiscent of the mRNA vaccines that became widely known during the coronavirus pandemic. The healing T cells receive the important information about which tumor cells to attack via mRNA. These tiny blueprints are packaged in equally tiny artificial capsules made of nanoparticles and introduced into the blood. Three things are crucial: first, that the information specific to the respective tumor is used and actually reaches the target. If, for example, leukemia cells in the blood are to be attacked, these cells must be specifically targeted. Furthermore, the mRNA must be transported stably through the blood and must not be degraded by the liver. Finally, the nanoparticles with the mRNA cargo must only activate the T cells suitable for fighting cancer, so-called CD8+ cells, and not other immune cells. This, too, was made possible by the antibodies anchored in the nanocapsules, which exclusively target the selected T cells.
This still innovative fetch and deliver system for immune cells is more of a clinical vision than reality. It has already been extensively tested in animal experiments with mice, rats, and primates. The anti-tumor effect of a few mRNA infusions lasted for weeks—which should be sufficient for cancer therapy. But physicians are also envisioning the taming of the immune system in many of the widespread autoimmune diseases. However, many more years of development work will likely be required before this becomes a reality in the clinic.” [1]
1. Liefern und zähmen: Neue Krebstherapie mit mRNA im Körper. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 25 June 2025: N1. JOACHIM MÜLLER-JUNG
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą