Evaluation of Gene Therapy Vectors for Cancer Therapeutics
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of Gene Therapy Vectors for Cancer Therapeutics
IRAS ID
290962
Contact name
Andre Raposo
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Biomedica
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) specialises in developing gene therapy for multiple clinical indications. One area being developed by OXB and many other institutions is a process of re-targeting immune cells using a gene therapy approach to kill tumour cells. Specifically, immune cells are transduced with a lentiviral vector that delivers the genetic information required to for them to express a tumour-targeting molecule. This enables the modified immune cell to specifically kill cancer cells expressing the target antigen. This approach has seen success in the treatment of childhood leukaemia. However, this approach also has been shown to lead to serious side effects caused by excessive immune cell activation.
The aim of this research is to use the described technique to create immune cells that target cancer antigens. OXB will also use Lentiviral vectors to deliver genetic material to incorporate 'safety switches' allowing better control of the modified cells and other factors with a view to improving efficacy in solid tumours. We will also aim to improve the specificity of our lentiviral vectors. The ultimate goal is to improve both the safety and efficacy of this new anti-cancer platform.
A further part of the study will screen normal human blood cells for the presence of the markers that the modified immune cells will target. This is to ensure that normal healthy cells would not be targeted.
In this laboratory study OXB are requesting surplus blood from the NHS Blood Transfusion Service from which we will isolate immune cells to test our lentiviral vectors. In addition OXB would use excess normal human blood products (e.g. whole blood, platelets) to test the safety of the retargeted immune cells.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EE/0031
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jan 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion