Monthly Archives: November 2015

A number of adoptive T cell therapies are being examined for cancer treatment including isolation and culturing tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), isolating and expanding a specific T cell or clone, and generating novel T cells with chimeric receptors designed to target tumor cells and provide robust activation signals to the T cell. 1,2

Recently, I wrote a short essay about CAR T Cell therapy and how this therapy uses genetically modified T Cells to generate a large number of your own cells, capable of targeting tumors bearing a known antigen (e.g. CD19 as a Lymphoma marker).

T Cells are one of the immune system’s specific attackers, capable of recognizing cells bearing specific antigen only. They are engaged and activated via interactions with APCs presenting antigen bound to MHC molecules as well as other ‘secondary’ signals.  For a more complete description, see

In the case when the T Cell recognizes the antigen, it proliferates and activates if provided sufficient secondary signals in addition to TCR stimulation. In the absence of recognition, the T Cells will not stably bind the APC and therefor not receive sufficient signaling to activate.

T Cells ‘see’ antigen through presentation in the context of MHC molecules on the surface of Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs)

Some benefits to that therapy include incorporation of a well-designed chimeric antigen receptor capable of providing normal T Cell Receptor (TCR) signals as well as signals from co-receptors required to generate mature effector cells. Because this construct targets the CD19 molecule directly, it does not require processing and presentation of antigen via MHC I by the tumor cells (important because one strategy tumor cells use to evade immune detection is to down-regulate MHC I). Using the patient’s own cells also means that immunosuppressive drugs aren’t required to prevent the body from rejecting the therapy.

One drawback though, is that the construct is made synthetically and can only include antibody binding regions specific to known cell surface antigens. So, if you know the cells you want to get rid of, and you can make an antibody to bind those cells preferentially, CAR T Cells are a good therapy for you.

Using Non-Transgenic T cells, similar effects can be obtained with an inverse set of pros and cons. Because this therapy does not utilize chimeric receptors, cells specific for a known  antigen aren’t singularly generated. Rather, a diverse array of cells is generated against tumor targets without requiring the isolation and characterization of one particular antigen. As opposed to the CAR T Cells these cells can only interact with target cells that present antigen via their MHC I molecules, which can be a drawback in situations where the tumor cells have downregulated antigen presentation molecules.

The Non-transgenic cells used may be generated in several ways. One method includes the harvest of tumor tissue from the patient, followed by killing these cells and re-injecting them (possibly in the presence of an adjuvant) to illicit a targeted immune response. 7-10 days later, peripheral T Cells enhanced for target specificity by the vaccine can be harvested and amplified outside of the body. In this way, cells can be amplified to numbers far outpacing what might be found in the patient, while also providing additional activation signals to promote effector cell development.

A second way of utilizing non-Transgenic T Cells in therapy is to isolate only those T Cells found to be actively invading the tumor. This biases toward cells already selected for by the immune system that may simply not be able to keep pace with the tumor’s growth. Ex vivo amplification can provide these cells the boost in numbers required to tip the balance in favor of the patient.

Coupling any of these therapies with other treatments, such as the human monocloncal antibody anti-CTLA-4 (ipilimumab) 4, can further support T Cell efficacy – in this case by blocking checkpoints used to dampen the immune response following a period of activation. In healthy patients, these checkpoints allow the immune system to revert to a state of homeostasis once pathogens have been cleared. In cancer patients, the tumor may not yet be eradicated before checkpoint molecules begin to dampen the response. By interrupting these, the window during which T Cells are most effective is widened — at least in some patients.

This article has been cross-posted on Medium

A Few References:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315690/
2. https://depts.washington.edu/tumorvac/research/t-cell-therapy
3. My Medium Post
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1951510/