Chapters Transcript Video Smart Cell Therapies for Solid Cancers Scientists at U CS F have engineered smart immune cells that discriminate between cancer and healthy tissue to take out solid tumors. Treatments like immunotherapy often use modified immune cells called chimeric antigen receptor T cells. Car ts that are programmed to seek specific molecules on the surface of a cell. Car ts have produced promising results in blood cancers but the molecules that car t seek called antigens are not perfect discriminators, meaning car Ts sometimes kill healthy cells or let cancer cells escape. Researchers at U CS F have engineered car T cells to be smarter equipping them with circuit switches that determine which cells to attack and which to ignore. For example, scientists have programmed car T cells to identify her two an antigen found in breast cancer but because her two is also found at low levels in healthy breast tissue. Researchers created a switch that activates the car T cell only when her two levels are very high. Car T cells are like an antibody with a big living computer attached. In this case, we've been able to program the cells to count, not just to kill only when her two is high enough will the cells go on the attack. In a similar breakthrough. Scientists created a car T cell that specifically fights glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. It targets antigens found on brain tumors. But because the same antigen is also found in healthy cells in the liver and kidneys, the car T cell is programmed to activate only after detecting brain tissue. Researchers also built flexibility into the switch to make sure that even cancerous cells without the antigen would not escape. Now, we've created a system that is flexible and thorough and addresses the major concerns we've had about using car T cells against solid tumors by slightly tweaking the programming of these smart cells. Scientists can target different kinds of tumors throughout the body. They hope this technology will lead to treatments against the most deadly and tenacious cancers. Published May 1, 2024 Created by
