Brain Blast Radius

Target acquired. Locked On. And… Bullseye!

This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.

Don’t you wish we could smart bomb cancer?

Then check out CAR T-cell therapy. It turns immune cells into cancer protein-hunting missiles, effectively wiping out most of the cancer! Unfortunately, CAR T- cell therapy isn’t effective against brain cancers… yet!

Enter Bryan Choi and team at Mass General. They re-engineered CAR T-cells to target brain cancer cells. The T-cells then call in backup and melt down the tumor.

They tested this treatment in three patients. MRI imaging showed all three patients’ tumors had shrunk dramatically after a few days! BLAM!

Looks like these CAR T-cells are taking brain tumors from cancerous to craterous! BOOM!


Reference: Choi, B. D., Gerstner, E. R., Frigault, M. J., Leick, M. B., Mount, C. W., Balaj, L., Nikiforow, S., Carter, B. S., Curry, W. T., Gallagher, K., & Maus, M. V. (2024). Intraventricular CARv3-TEAM-E T Cells in Recurrent Glioblastoma. The New England Journal of Medicine, 390(14). https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2314390