Credit: Molecular cancer (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01914-8
Over the past two decades, immunotherapy – which uses the body’s immune system to fight disease – has become a revolutionary treatment for various types of cancer. The body’s T cells have a remarkable ability to identify and fight a wide range of cancers. Unfortunately, cancer cells often develop the ability to weaken T cell activity.
“We already have several drugs that inhibit the weakening of T cells, but even the most effective drugs vary greatly depending on the type of cancer being treated,” says Odd Gammelgaard, one of the researchers behind the study published in Molecular cancer.
A limiting factor in the use of these drugs is the need for patients to have a sufficient number of so-called reactive T lymphocytes, capable of distinguishing healthy cells from diseased cells, which is often not the case. To address this problem, technologies have been developed that allow the selection and cultivation of T cells in the laboratory.
Cultivated from patients’ blood
Danish biotechnology company CytoVac has developed new technology that allows it to draw blood from patients and then isolate and mature the T cells in the laboratory. These T cells grown in the laboratory are then reintroduced into patients.
In a new study, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark and Odense University Hospital, in collaboration with CytoVac, have shown that if laboratory-grown T cells are administered in combination with drugs that prevent cancer cells to inhibit the activity of T lymphocytes, the anti-cancer effect is significantly increased. It can inhibit tumor growth, prevent the spread of cancer, and significantly prolong survival in animal models.
AII consists of phenotypically novel T cells with cancer eradication capacity. A Degranulation analysis of AII after 5 h of culture alone, or with MDA-MB-231 cells, demonstrating the degranulation of both NKAII and TAII cells. A representative of five experiments is presented. B–VS Quantification of NK degranulationAII and TAII when co-cultured with MDA-MB-231 cells from five independent experiments shown as mean ± standard deviation. D Analysis of cancer cell viability (luminescence) after 24-hour co-culture with purified immune cell fractions. A representative of seven independent experiments is shown. Data are presented as mean ± SEM of triplicates. E Comparison of LD50 based on the data presented in D. F Comparison of CD4 percentage+CD8+and DN TAII cells in 10 AII preparations evaluated by flow cytometry. g Flow cytometry analysis of AII cells showing expression of CD45RO, but not CD45RA. H CD4 phenotypic analysis+CD8.+ and DN TAII cells with respect to expression of CD62L, CD27, CD28 and CCR7 determined by flow cytometry I–J. TCR clonotype analysis identifying thousands of TCR alpha and beta chains in each AII preparation. The preparations are dominated by 10 to 20 T cell clones. Statistical difference was determined using the paired t test B–VS and Student’s t test E. *0.05 > P. ≥ 0.01, **0.01 > P. ≥ 0.001. Credit:Molecular cancer(2024). DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01914-8
Positive results, but clinical use will take time
Initially, the treatment was tested in animals with the subtype of breast cancer called triple negative breast cancer. This type accounts for about 10% of all cases of breast cancer. It is known to have few effective treatment options and lower survival rates than other breast cancers.
“In the long term, we aim to offer this combination treatment to patients with triple negative breast cancer. The only condition for the patient to receive this treatment would be repeated blood donations. We hope that the combination treatment will also have a effect in other types of cancer, but this remains to be established.”
“The first step is to test whether we can achieve the same results in humans who receive the treatment. This is a long process, so it is too early to say when and if patients will benefit from this new combination treatment,” says Gammelgaard.
More information:
Odd L. Gammelgaard et al, Adoptive cell transfer therapy with ex vivo primed peripheral lymphocytes in combination with anti-PDL1 therapy effectively inhibits growth and metastasis of triple negative breast cancer,Molecular cancer(2024). DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01914-8
Provided by the University of Southern Denmark
Quote: Promising results in cancer treatment using immunotherapy and Danish technology (February 7, 2024) retrieved February 7, 2024 from
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