Scientists Wipe Out Deadly Childhood Brain Tumors in Every Mouse Tested

Résumé détaillé

Researchers found a way to switch cancer-fighting immune cells on inside the brain, with striking early results.

Scientists have eliminated an aggressive childhood brain cancer in every mouse tested using an experimental immune-cell therapy designed to switch on only after it enters the brain.

The findings could point to a new way of treating diffuse midline glioma (DMG), a devastating cancer with barely any effective treatment options available. However, experts caution that the results have so far only been demonstrated in mice and will need to be tested for safety and effectiveness in people.

Dr. Lucy Hooper, a physician and co-founder of Coyne Medical, told Newsweek: "CAR-T cell therapies have revolutionized treatment for some blood cancers, so it is very exciting to see work showing a possible way to extend that success to brain tumors. Diffuse midline glioma is a devastating childhood cancer, with a very high mortality rate and very limited treatment options.

"What is particularly interesting here is how the researchers have engineered T cells, a type of immune cell, with a biological switch called synNotch," she added. "This responds to a signal in the brain before turning on the cells’ cancer-targeting machinery. The aim is to concentrate the treatment where it is needed and reduce the risk of damaging healthy tissues elsewhere in the body."

DMG grows into the brainstem, which controls critical functions such as breathing, heartbeat and swallowing. Nearly all children diagnosed with the disease die within a year, and existing treatments have had little success in stopping its progression.

Researchers at UC San Francisco developed the experimental treatment, known as B-SYNC CAR-T, to tackle some of the problems that have limited CAR-T therapy against brain tumors.

CAR-T therapy involves genetically modifying a patient's T cells so they carry receptors that recognize proteins on cancer cells and trigger an immune attack. B-SYNC adds another layer of control.

The researchers identified brevican, a protein distributed throughout the brain, and redesigned the synNotch system so…

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