>Researchers at the Mass General Cancer Center are reporting on the outcomes of the first three patients in a clinical trial of CAR-T therapy for glioblastoma (GBM), a rapidly growing brain tumor and the most common type of malignant brain tumor in adults.

>CAR-T therapy, which represents the most personalized form of cancer treatment, operates by leveraging a patient’s own cells to combat the disease. This involves extracting a patient’s cells, engineering them to express specific proteins on their surface, and then reintroducing them into the body to directly target the tumor.

>The trial, dubbed INCIPIENT, aimed to assess the safety of CARv3-TEAM-E T cells in patients with recurrent GBM. While CAR-T therapies have gained approval for treating blood cancers, their application in solid tumors has been limited due to the diverse cell populations within these tumors, which allow some cancer cells to evade immune detection even after CAR-T treatment.

>To address this challenge, the research team employed a novel strategy combining CAR-T with bispecific antibodies, or T-cell engaging antibody molecules (TEAMs). This combined approach, specifically designed for glioblastoma, involves direct injection into the patient’s brain.

>The strategy showed promise in preclinical models of glioblastoma, motivating the researchers to move towards clinical application.

>[from the study's abstract] "Radiographic tumor regression was dramatic and rapid, occurring within days after receipt of a single intraventricular infusion, but the responses were transient in two of the three participants."

It's a long way to a miracle treatment like Gleevec, and it's very expensive, but it's close enough to enhance the survival rate.

studyfinds.org/brain-cancer-tumor-5-days/