Clinical Translation of GUCY2C CAR-T-Cell Therapy
Abstract
This proposal addresses (1) the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Topic Areas immunotherapy, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and stomach cancer and (2) the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Area Gaps in cancer prevention, early detection/diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and/or survivorship that may impact mission readiness and the health and well-being of military members, Veterans, their beneficiaries, and the general public. The objective of this proposal is to translate our development of a new immunotherapy for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, including gastric, esophageal, pancreatic, and colorectal, from its discovery phase into a therapy ready for human testing. This immunotherapy involves the genetic manipulation of a patients own immune cells, creating CAR-T cells that can detect and kill GI cancer cells. After administering these cells to the patient, these modified immune cells may then be able to search for and kill GI cancer in the body. Similar therapies have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain forms of leukemia, but no approach currently exists for other cancers. This proposal will establish a manufacturing method to generate CAR-T cells to treat GI cancer in patients and test this new therapy in an animal model of human GI cancer using cancers and immune cells from patients. The proposed studies would support an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the FDA to begin human studies. If successful, the results of these studies could be applied to patients with pancreatic, gastric, esophageal, colorectal cancer, and salivary cancers, diseases that are frequently fatal and require new, more effective treatments. Overall, >50% of military personnel, dependents, and civilians diagnosed with these cancers die of their disease, highlighting the potential impact this research developing a new GI cancer treatment could have on the lives of Service members, their families, and the general population.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 19, 2019
- Source ID
- W81XWH1910263
Entities
People
- Adam E. Snook
Organizations
- Thomas Jefferson University
- United States Army