Cell-preservation technique could make CAR-T cell therapy more accessible
MIT researchers’ approach, which uses naturally occurring sugars as antifreeze, could make it easier for hospitals to deploy this type of cancer treatment.
A new technique developed by researchers at MIT could make CAR-T cell therapy more accessible to patients. Immune cells called CAR-T cells are used to treat blood cancer, but only a small percentage of hospitals in the United States have the ability to generate and deliver these cells. The new method preserves cells from damage incurred during freezing and shipping, reducing reliance on the chemical preservative dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) that is currently used.
By treating cells with a nontoxic antifreeze sugar instead, the process could be simplified, as thawed cells could be directly injected without additional processing. In tests on mice, cells preserved using this technique showed higher survival rates and were effective in treating lymphoma and glioblastoma. Lead author Ana Jaklenec from MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research believes the approach could enable more cancer treatment centers to provide CAR-T cell therapy.
The researchers plan to work with hospitals to integrate this new technique into the cell production process, with the goal of eventually conducting clinical trials with patients.
Written by urgent.news from MIT News Research's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
