Project Entitled: “Allogeneic, “off-the-shelf” CD122 CAR-T immunotherapy for Glioblastoma.”
Project Summary:
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant brain tumour. Despite an aggressive therapy regimen, almost all patients relapse 7-9 months post-diagnosis. Therapy failure and poor patient outcomes may be attributed to a small population of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) that escape therapy and seed disease recurrence.
GSCs are most notably identified by the cell surface protein CD133, which has previously been associated with pro-tumour properties, including treatment resistance, tumour growth, maintenance, progression and metastasis. Earlier in the Singh Lab, we developed an engineered T-cell therapy, known as a CAR-T, capable of recognizing CD133 to induce tumour cell death. While this showed success in our animal models of human GBM, other considerations must be addressed on its path to clinical development.
Currently, CAR-T therapies are generated from T-cells taken from cancer patients. This hosts a myriad of concerns, including the quality of patient T-cells, the time and cost to manufacture, and their availability for patients with rapidly progressing diseases. Hence, to circumvent this issue, we aim to develop and test the donor-derived CAR-T cells genetically engineered for safe usage in GBM patients as a readily available, “off-the-shelf” therapy.
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