Reprogramming Exhausted Melanoma ¡°Killer¡± Cells in Mice
An ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ grantee studies immunotherapy for melanoma, using cell therapy.?
The Challenge
Immunotherapy uses a patient¡¯s own immune system to fight cancer. Certain types of immunotherapy known as cell therapy or cell transfer therapy, use immune cells called T cells, which are a type of white blood cell. The patient¡¯s T cells are genetically changed in a lab to make them better able to kill cancer cells and returned to the patient¡¯s body. But these superpowered T cells don¡¯t work at full speed forever. They gradually become exhausted, and their cancer-killing abilities weaken.
The Research
Weiguo Cui, PhD, and his team on working on immunotherapy for melanoma. They believe they¡¯ve found a genetic pathway that controls the T cells¡¯ ¡°killing¡± strength and duration. Using mice that have melanoma, Cui and his team are studying the pathway and hope to use it to design new ways to reprogram the exhausted T cells, thereby allowing them to regain and keep their ¡°super-killing¡± abilities.?
Why It Matters
Cui¡¯s team is hopeful that their work in mice will eventually lead to human studies to help develop new immunotherapy treatments that target different types of cancer cells.