Enhancing CAR T Cell Therapy for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma by Promoting CAR T Cell Persistence with Novel Manufacturing Approach and Immune Checkpoint Receptor Modifications
My research at Seattle Children’s is to develop and improve a new type of cellular therapy to treat children’s brain cancers, and we call this new treatment CAR T cell therapy, in which we genetically modify patients’ own immune cells so that they could directly recognize and kill cancer cells. This new CAR T cell technology is one of the most exciting new technologies developed in recent years for cancer treatment, and it has been very effective treating blood cancers, so right now we are trying to take this new technology and improve it to treat brain cancers in children that are extremely fatal.
Project Goals
This project is focusing on improving the CAR T cells with a novel production method and additional gene modifications so that they could stay functional longer in the tumors and be more effective in treating brain cancers of children. We hope these enhanced CAR T cells will bring cures to children with brain tumors and save invaluable lives.
