With the advent of immunotherapy, researchers hoped to boost a person's immune system to fight and destroy tumors effectively. Although this type of therapy has completely changed the treatment landscape for cancers such as melanoma, there remain a significant number of people whose tumors can evade their immune system.
This "off-the-shelf" NK immunotherapy trial is the first in the U.S. to use cells that the researchers have derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Scientists first developed iPS cells in 2006 by switching on four dormant genes in skin cells. Doing this completely changed the characteristics of these cells and reverted them to an embryonic-like state.
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Many therapies make use of a patient's own cells or cells from a donor. While this type of personalized treatment is the mainstay of current cell therapy applications, it is costly and time-consuming.
A single iPS cell can thus become an "off-the-shelf" source of cells for therapy, which it is easy to produce time and time again.
The phase I trial started in February and will include up to 64 people with advanced, untreatable cancer. The main aim of the trial is to assess the safety of the treatment. The other objectives are to determine the extent to which the tumors respond to NK cell therapy and to find out how long the cells stay in the participants' bodies.
"This is a landmark accomplishment for the field of stem cell-based medicine and cancer immunotherapy," explains Dr. Kaufman in a press release. "This clinical trial represents the first use of cells produced from human-induced pluripotent stem cells to better treat and fight cancer."
"Together with Fate Therapeutics, we've been able to show in preclinical research that this new strategy to produce pluripotent stem cell-derived natural killer cells can effectively kill cancer cells in cell culture and in mouse models," he continues.
"Coming to a [National Cancer Institute] cancer center means a lot to me. My options aren't otherwise good. Some people may not opt for a clinical trial, but for me, I want a chance at a cure."