Cancer research investigates various aspects of this disease, including its diagnosis and treatment. Over the years, cancer treatment has developed into several categories: chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, surgery, stem cell transplant, and immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy relies on the patient’s immune system as a line of defense against cancer cells. As a form of biological therapy, immunotherapy uses substances produced by living organisms to target cancer.
Although the immune system can attack cancer cells, some types of cancer cells can escape one’s immune defenses. Immunotherapy aims to boost the immune system so that it can more effectively fight cancer. Encompassing many subtypes, immunotherapy utilizes the following: monoclonal antibodies, immune system modulators, checkpoint inhibitors, and T-cell transfer therapy.
T-cell transfer therapy is a subtype of immunotherapy that enhances the immune properties of one’s T cells. T cells are a type of white blood cell that is characterized by a T-cell receptor on its surface. They are produced in the bone marrow, then multiply and mature in the thymus. In their maturation stage, T cells differentiate into one of four types: helper, regulatory, memory, or cytotoxic.
Cytotoxic T cells, also known as CD8+ T cells, mainly function as the body’s defense against infections (bacterial and viral) and tumors. T-cell transfer therapy utilizes cytotoxic T cells to boost the patient’s immunity in the face of cancer.
The T-cell transfer therapy method typically entails extracting a sample of the patient’s T cells and multiplying them in the lab to generate a huge amount to be reinjected into the patient’s body. This therapy can also modify the T cells prior to injection. For example, T cells can be engineered in the lab and transformed into CAR T cells that are equipped with an extra protein that increases their ability to bind and destroy cancer cells.
The open-access journal Nature Communications recently published a research study focusing on the effectiveness of engineered cytotoxic T cells in cancer treatment. The study assessed the T cells’ ability to successfully overcome physical barriers that they meet while infiltrating a tumor.
Dr. Paolo Provenzano is the study’s senior author. He currently works at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering as an associate professor of biomedical engineering. Along with his research team, Dr. Provenzano created engineering design criteria with the goal of enhancing T cells so that they can reach cancer cells in solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer. T cells struggle to infiltrate solid tumors, which contain tough fibrotic architecture that significantly slows them down.
The researchers implemented genome editing technologies to manipulate the DNA content inside the T cells. By editing T cell genes, the researchers engineered the cells’ microtubule system to improve its effectiveness in overcoming physical barriers in tumors.
Research findings demonstrated that the engineered T cells moved more quickly than natural T cells. Their speed doubled, and they succeeded in infiltrating tumor cells regardless of barriers. Although the study focused on pancreatic cancer in rodents, future clinical trials in human populations diagnosed with other types of cancer can be a promising path in immunotherapy.
