Profiling of Immune Cells for Cancer Cell Therapies v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Characterization of immune cell subsets in cancer patients towards the discovery of functional immune receptors for anti-cancer therapy.
IRAS ID
263019
Contact name
Marco Purbhoo
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
AgenTus Therapeutics
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
AgenTus Therapeutics develops a specific type of immune-based cancer treatment termed "cell therapy". This type of treatment utilizes T cells (types of specialized immune cells that fight infection and cancer) from patients. These cells are re-programmed outside the body of the patient to enable them to better recognize and destroy cancer cells through cancer-specific immune cell receptors. These modified cells are then given back to the patient to fight cancer directly in the body.
Tumors have frequently evolved mechanisms to suppress the ability of the host’s immune system to destroy aberrant cancer cells. Nonetheless, these patients display increased levels of immune cells that in principle carry immune receptors capable of recognizing specific cancer cells. These potentially tumor-reactive immune cells can also be detected in the patients' peripheral blood. In some cases, they may be particularly enriched in the patients' tumor mass (then termed tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes). Specific gene expression signatures are emerging that enable to identify immune cells that previously recognized cancer antigens - small fragments of proteins that in cancer are sufficiently different in their quantity or quality from the individual's normal tissues to be recognized by the immune system as aberrant.
The aim of this research is to guide the discovery of new immune cell receptors, to gain a better understanding of how the immune system of cancer patients is influenced by the tumor, and to use the results for the development of better cell therapies. Samples used in this research would not be introduced back into patients and are purely needed to derive genetic information to guide and design better therapies.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EM/0138
Date of REC Opinion
24 May 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion