The most common cancers worldwide are breast, lung, colorectal and prostate cancer.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Ludwig Center, in collaboration with the Lustgarten Institute and the Bloomberg Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, have engineered a new type of cell called costimulatory synthetic T cell receptor and antigen receptor (Co-STAR) that they say may be effective in treating cancer.
In a study published in 2011, Science Translational Medicine, The researchers tested Co-STAR against human cancer cells growing in test tubes and in mice.
The researchers created Co-STAR cells by combining genetic components from four types of cells that the body uses to defend against invaders: T cell receptors from T cells, antibodies from B cells, MyD88 from monocytes, and CD40 from dendritic cells and other cells.
“Our goal was to combine some of the advantages of the CAR format with the advantages of the natural T cell receptor on T cells, and then add in a signaling enhancer so we could fight cancer more effectively,” said Brian Mogg, an internal medicine resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lead author of the study.
After designing and testing the receptor multiple times in model cancer cell lines in the test tube and then in mouse cancer models, the team developed the final Co-STAR T cells that were able to consistently kill human cancer cells in the test tube.
In mouse models, Co-STARS was successful in inducing robust and long-lasting proliferation of T cells, inducing remission and in many cases curing human cancer cells growing in the mice.
According to Cancer Research UK, there are an estimated 18 million new cases of cancer worldwide in 2020, with the four most common cancers globally – breast, lung, bowel and prostate – accounting for more than a quarter of all diagnosed cancers.
Recently, in the UK, cancer specialists and experts, including from King’s College London, Revealed The top 10 cancer challenges facing the new UK government have been published in a new policy review. The Lancet Oncology It established several recommendations to improve survival, quality of life and experiences of cancer patients in the UK.
