2023-08-28 09:04:29
Destructive: Glioblastoma cells. This brain tumor usually leads to death quickly. Image: Reuters
Doctors from Frankfurt and Mainz are testing a new treatment method for a particularly malignant brain tumor. She relies on genetically modified immune cells. The first interim results give the researchers hope.
Researchers from Frankfurt and Mainz are testing a new therapy against glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor that has so far mostly been incurable. The scientists from the Frankfurt Cancer Institute and the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research have modified immune cells in such a way that they can recognize specific characteristics of the cancer. At the first part of a clinical study nine patients with glioblastoma who had already relapsed took part. They were injected with genetically engineered natural killer cells into the cavity left behind after the operation. According to the researchers, there were no serious side effects. There was also evidence of local activation of the immune system. Analyzes of removed tumor tissue have shown that a high number of cytotoxic immune cells, so-called CD8 T cells, are associated with a more favorable course of the disease.
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The second part of the study is currently investigating how effective and safe repeated injections of killer cells are when the patient’s immune system is activated at the same time as a so-called checkpoint inhibitor. This should increase the effect of the genetically modified cells. According to the scientists involved, the study is an important step towards the development of cellular immunotherapies for solid tumors.
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