CAR T Cells Derived From Stem Cells Open Door To Universal Donor Cell Lines
what if an effective cancer treatment became cheaper and easier to produce? One study published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering builds on this vision to improve medical innovation CAR T therapy by using stem cells and extensive gene editing. The results demonstrate that the experimental CAR T cells—derived from stem cell donors instead of patients—can be used to effectively treat mice models of cancer. Looking forward, clinical translation of this model could lower the cost, time and labor barriers which make CAR T therapy prohibitive for most.
In their study, researchers Wang et al. sought to grow a universal source of cytotoxic T cells to use in cell therapies such as CAR T. These cells would be allogeneic, or not derived from the patient. The team turned to induced pluripotent stem cells in particular to accomplish this task.
CAR T therapy traditionally uses a patient’s own cells, but this method is costly and resource-intensive. In comparison, induced pluripotent stem cells can be expanded and cloned in a way that patient cells and donor T cells cannot. The authors demonstrate that their stem cell-derived cytotoxic T cells can survive allogeneic transplant and suppress tumor growth in mouse models of cancer. This optimistic combination of stem cell technology and CAR T therapy may bring the cancer treatment closer to a more ideal, ready-made form.
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