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Tumour tamed by transfer of one T cell

The T cells of the immune system can be engineered to target a tumour, but why some people respond better than others to such therapy is unclear. One patient’s striking response to treatment now offers some clues.
  1. Marcela V. Maus

    1. Marcela V. Maus is in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

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The use of genetically engineered immune cells to target tumours is one of the most exciting current developments in cancer treatment. In this approach, T cells are taken from a patient and modified in vitro by inserting an engineered version of a gene that encodes a receptor protein. The receptor, known as a chimaeric antigen receptors (CAR), directs the engineered cell, called a CAR T cell, to the patient’s tumour when the cell is transferred back into the body. This therapy can be highly effective for tumours that express the protein CD19, such as B-cell acute leukaemias1,2 and large-cell lymphomas3,4. However, some people do not respond to CAR T cells, and efforts to optimize this therapy are ongoing. In a paper in Nature, Fraietta et al.5 report the fortuitous identification of a gene that positively affected one person’s response to treatment with CAR T cells.

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Nature 558, 193-195 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05251-5

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