MIT Researchers Engineer Donor Immune Cells to Wipe Out Cancer Cells

Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment, but the approach still faces challenges like lengthy preparation time (time that patients often don’t have), safety issues that result in discontinuation of treatment, and lack of responsiveness in many patients. Scientists are looking for ways to improve this approach, and MIT researchers seem to have come up with a viable improvement. 

The study, whose findings appeared in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that the researchers may have developed a way to prepare CAR-NK (chimeric antigen receptor natural killer) cells in advance so that once a patient needs this treatment, the ready-to-use modified immune cells are available for infusion. 

Under normal circumstances, the preparation of immunotherapy involves getting a blood sample from a patient, extracting killer cells and then genetically modifying those cells so that they are capable of identifying and attacking tumor cells. The engineered cells are then grown in the lab to quantities that are sufficient to mount an attack against the cancer the patient is grappling with. Once the right quantity is attained, the cells are infused into the patient. 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers sought to improve this process. Rather than wait to extract NK cells from a patient who needs immunotherapy, they used blood taken from healthy individuals. The NK cells were then modified to remove certain proteins that a recipient’s immune system can detect and mark the donated cells as foreign bodies to be attacked. 

The team then tested their engineered cells in mice having lymphoma, and cancer cells were destroyed in just three weeks. The engineered cells remained detectable in the mice for a long time, indicating that the host immune system had been unable to identify them as foreign elements to be targeted. 

Additionally, the treated mice didn’t experience a cytokine storm, a risk that usually leads to severe side effects of immunotherapy. In contrast, mice that didn’t get these specially engineered cells had no detectable CAR-NK cells in just three weeks, and a cytokine storm resulted from their treatment. Cancer continued progressing in these mice, indicating that the immunotherapy they received only worked temporarily and the cancer resumed its progression. 

The study opens a door to the mass production of immunotherapies, with the possibility of slashing the cost of these treatments. The elimination of some adverse events also means more patients could benefit from these treatments. It isn’t yet clear whether the approach can be used for cancer types other than lymphoma, but the possibility exists. 

Other players like Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) in the immunotherapy field are likely to take an interest in how the findings of this preclinical study pan out during trials involving human subjects. 

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