Date/Time
Date(s) - Friday, October 25, 2013
12:45 pm - 2:00 pm

Attendees

13 people are going

Location
Seminar Room 3

Categories

• Science Discussion Group

Adoptive T cell transfer: the new frontier of cancer therapy

Adoptive T cell therapy represents an emerging field in cancer therapeutics. We aim to utilize the body’s own machinery, the T cell, to target and destroy cancerous cells by using engineered, increased affinity T Cell Receptors (TCRs) as a means of strengthening natural patient T cells responses. A TCR against NY-ESO-1, a protein expressed only in cancerous cells, has been isolated and enhanced to better recognize the tumour. This TCR has been then inserted in patient’s derived T cells and these cells, once re-infused back into the patient, mount an immune response against the tumour and mediate its regression. The clinical evidence that genetically engineered T cells can selectively recognize and destroy tumour cells without damaging healthy tissue holds the promise of a less toxic and more targeted treatment for cancer.