First trial shows direct editing with CRISPR to fight cancer is feasible

CANCER DIGEST – Feb. 8, 2020 – A new study in three patients with advanced cancer has shown that directly editing T cells to fight cancer can be done safely.

Many advances in immunotherapy approaches have been achieved                                   Credit Mayo Clinic 
by finding the T cells that attack the patient’s tumors and then growing massive amounts of them in the lab and then reinfusing them back into the patient where it is hoped the number of T cells attacking the cancer will overwhelm it.

Now researchers are working to see if they can directly edit the genes of T cells using the genetic technique, called CRISPR, in a way that will make the T cells specifically attack the patient’s particular type of cancer.

In this new early clinical trial, three patients with advanced cancer who have not responded to other therapies volunteered to allow scientists to try the CRISPR approach on their cancers. The researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) removed T-cells from the patients’ blood and used CRISPR to delete genes that might reduce the cell’s ability to fight cancer. In other words make the T cells more effective in recognizing and attacking cancer.

They then used a virus to, in effect arm the T-cells with the ability to specifically recognize a protein called NY-ESO-1, which is found on the surface of cancer cells. It is analogous to programming a missile with the precise coordinates of the target. The modified T cells were then re-infused into the patients .

While one of patients has died and the other two have continued to worsen, the study showed the approach is feasible and is safe without producing any side effects. In other words this trial passed the initial test any new therapy must pass before proceeding to a clinical trial to determine effectiveness.