Episode 6: A View On CAR-T Therapies

CAR-T Cell Therapy: Re-engineering the Immune System in the Fight Against Cancer 

In this episode, Tamara Laskowski, Senior Director of Clinical Development in Personalized Medicine at Lonza, and Aya Jakobovits, from Adicet Bio, discuss the therapeutic potential of CAR-T cell therapy.  

CAR-T cell therapy has generated immense enthusiasm within the oncology community since its first FDA approval in 2017. Currently, there are six commercially approved CAR-T cell-based therapies, with more on the horizon. These therapies have exhibited remarkable efficacy, particularly for patients who have exhausted standard treatment options. Industry experts Tamara Laskowski and Aya Jakobovits attest to the astounding outcomes witnessed in patients, some of whom have remained in remission for a decade after having received a CAR-T infusion. 

CAR-T cells are modified white blood cells that are introduced into a patient’s body. These remarkable cells are meticulously engineered to possess synthetic receptors, known as CARs, which enable them to first identify then eradicate malignant cells with precision. By targeting cancer cells that exhibit a specific target antigen, CAR T-cells have the extraordinary ability to seek out and eliminate harmful cells, offering new hope in the battle against this devastating disease. 

Curious to Know More? 

Join us on this podcast episode as we explore the therapeutic potential of CAR-T cells, their path to clinical trials, and their role in providing astonishing outcomes for patients with limited treatment options.  

KEY TERMS IN CONTEXT: 

A Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is a synthetic receptor engineered to be expressed on the surface of immune cells, particularly T cells, allowing them to recognize and bind to specific molecules or antigens present on cancer cells, triggering their destruction. CARs play a crucial role in CAR-T cell therapy by redirecting the immune cells to target and eliminate cancer cells with precision. 

CAR-T cell therapy is a revolutionary form of immunotherapy that involves engineering T cells to express CARs on their surface. These modified CAR-T cells are then infused into the patient, where they can recognize and target cancer cells, leading to potent and often long-lasting success with remission. 

Personalized medicine tailors medical treatments to individual patients based on their unique characteristics. In the context of CAR-T cell therapy, it involves genetically modifying a patient's own immune cells for customized and targeted cancer treatment. 

Autologous therapy is a CAR-T cell therapy approach that uses the patient's own T cells for manufacturing, whereas allogeneic therapy utilizes donor T cells as a cell source, offering potential advantages in terms of scalability and accessibility.