Breakthroughs in CAR T-Cell Therapies Target Solid Cancer Tumors

The cancer therapeutics landscape is rapidly changing. It wasn’t long ago, 2017 to be exact, that the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy was approved by the FDA for use in hematological, or blood cancer therapies.

To date, over 34,000 patients have been treated with this breakthrough therapy, with some early clinical trials patients experiencing blood cancer remissions of a decade or more.

Yet, roughly 7 years after the first FDA approval, most CAR T-cell therapies continue to target blood cancers, and blood cancers alone. Due to the unique, hostile environment surrounding solid tumors and the physical barriers which impede “traditional” CAR T-cell infiltration, the therapy has, unfortunately, shown little efficacy in combating the majority of cancers.

However, a recent study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, by a group of researchers, explores advances in CAR T-cell therapy for the targeting of solid tumors.

“After a decade of relatively modest results for solid tumors, recent clinical trials and patient reports have also started to yield promising outcomes in glioblastoma and other challenging solid tumor entities,” said Nature.

With solid tumors accounting for roughly 90% of adult cancers, positive outcomes shown in clinical trials are giving hope to tens of millions of cancer patients.

And one such clinical trial, the ANGELICA Trial, has just begun.

CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC), recently announced it has dosed its first clinical trial patient for “Allogeneic CAR-Gamma Delta T Cell Therapy in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors or Hematological Malignancies.”

Notably, CytoMed’s therapeutic targets blood cancers and solid tumor cancers, which if successful could lead to a therapy with far more versatility than those of the past.

“Dosing the first patient in the ANGELICA Trial, CytoMed has reached a significant milestone as a clinical stage biopharma. The ANGELICA Trial aims to assess the safety and potential efficacy of an allogeneic CAR-T therapy in patients with advanced solid tumors or hematological malignancies,” said Peter Choo, CytoMed’s Chairman.

“This is different from the current CAR-T cell therapy that typically involves taking patient’s blood cells and modifying these cells by grafting an artificial protein, known as a chimeric antigen receptor, on the surface of T cells, a type of white blood cell…

“The ANGELICA Trial taps on blood drawn from eligible (healthy) donors, potentially improving the quality of CAR-T cells, reducing production costs and increasing patients’ accessibility to therapy,” said the company.

To review CytoMed’s press release on its ANGELICA Trial, and to keep up to date on further developments, visit HERE

Or, or access to the journal Nature Biotechnology report on CAR T therapies for solid tumors, visit HERE