CAR T cell News and Research

RSS

Tocilizumab in Critical COVID-19 Patients

A new study by scientists at Metro Infectious Disease Consultants and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 reports that the cytokine blocker tocilizumab is a useful adjunct to supportive medical care in severe COVID-19, with increased survival and a lower requirement for mechanical ventilation.

10 Jun 2020

Tocilizumab in COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation

Now, a new study by researchers from the University of Michigan and published on the online preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 shows that the cytokine inhibitor tocilizumab could have a favorable effect on survival in the most severely infected patients who require mechanical ventilation. This needs to be confirmed by clinical trials.

7 Jun 2020

Study offers a deeper understanding of T cell immunity in the elderly

A study by Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) expands the understanding of the molecular pathways that control T cell function and survival and how it relates to declining T cell immunity in the elderly.

5 Jun 2020

A cytokine pattern that predicts adverse outcomes in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports the discovery of a predictive pattern of cytokines in COVID-19 infection that could guide clinical management if validated.

2 Jun 2020

Researchers develop promising immunotherapy treatment for glioblastoma

Researchers of McMaster University and the University of Toronto have developed a promising immunotherapy treatment for a deadly form of adult brain cancer called glioblastoma.

27 May 2020

IL-6 blocker use in severe COVID-19 increases risk of secondary infections

With many hundreds of thousands of deaths due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, there is a rush to find an effective vaccine or drug against the virus. A new study on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 shows that the use of some biologically plausible drugs may be counterproductive, and care should be taken when trying out unproven therapies.

22 May 2020

More cancer patients could benefit from CAR T-cell therapy, Moffitt study suggests

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR T, has become a game changer for lymphoma and leukemia patients who have relapsed or become resistant to previous treatments.

14 May 2020

Researchers report promising new therapy for recurrent pediatric brain cancers

Two pediatric brain cancers that are challenging to treat if they recur, medulloblastoma and ependymoma, are the target of a clinical trial using a new type of therapy.

27 Apr 2020

Using 'own' immune cells to fight infectious diseases including COVID-19

A provocative paper from Duke-NUS Medical School, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine in March 2020, discusses the possibilities of creating new receptors on a sick person's own immune cells as a means of controlling the infection. This therapy is already being used to treat certain cancers with marked success.

22 Apr 2020

Majority of patients with mantle cell lymphoma may benefit from CAR T-cell therapy KTE-X19

A one-year follow-up study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center revealed a majority of patients with mantle cell lymphoma resistant to prior therapies may benefit from treatment with CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.

1 Apr 2020

Novel immunotherapy eradicates solid tumors in mice without adverse side effects

Scientists have developed a new immunotherapy that eradicates solid tumors in mice without adverse side effects, according to a new study published today in eLife.

31 Mar 2020

Advancing CAR T-cell therapy for treatment of solid tumors

The full title of the research is "The study of the mechanisms of effectiveness of T-cells CAR-T towards solid tumors"; it was supported by nonprofit RakFond (Cancer Fund) and CyStoreLab (a resident of Skolkovo).

25 Mar 2020

CAR macrophages can be used to effectively fight solid tumors

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has been a game-changer for blood cancers but has faced challenges in targeting solid tumors.

23 Mar 2020

Bioengineers create light-controllable CAR T cells for cancer immunotherapy

Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a control system that could make CAR T-cell therapy safer and more powerful when treating cancer.

19 Feb 2020

UCLA researcher designs ways for immune cells to 'outsmart' solid tumors

Yvonne Chen engineers immune cells to target their most evasive enemy: cancer. New cancer immunotherapies generate immune cells that are effective killers of blood cancers, but they have a hard time with solid tumors.

16 Feb 2020

Research reveals novel way to treat cancers using CAR T cell therapy

Too many patients with cancers like multiple myeloma relapse after treatment. This grim reality motivated researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah to try to improve the depth and durability of treatment response in multiple myeloma through a new cancer cell targeting mechanism.

10 Feb 2020

CRISPR-edited immune cells can be safely given to cancer patients

The emergence of CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has spurred hope in both doctors and patients since it shows promise in treating a multitude of diseases, including cancer. For the first time in the United States, a team of scientists has shown that CRISPR-edited immune cells can be safely used to cancer patients.

9 Feb 2020

CD19 CAR NK cell therapy clinical trial shows encouraging results for hematologic cancers

According to results from a Phase I/IIa trial at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, treatment with cord blood-derived chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (NK)-cell therapy targeting CD19 resulted in clinical responses in a majority of patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, with no major toxicities observed.

6 Feb 2020

Researchers develop an emergency stop switch for CAR T-cell therapies

Immunotherapy, unlike chemotherapy and radiotherapy, arms the body's immune system to attack cancer cells. In recent years, it has proven to be remarkably successful at treating leukemia, lymphoma and other liquid cancers, or cancers present in body fluids.

4 Feb 2020

Ludwig Cancer Research study develops a safer CAR-T therapy

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has devised a new type of chimeric antigen-receptor (CAR) T cell - a family of promising immunotherapies for cancer- that can be switched on and off on demand.

3 Feb 2020