Survival rates for lung cancer could dramatically increase following the first UK clinical trial, led by a BRC researcher, to use combined cell-gene therapy.
The potential treatment, which will be tested on 56 UCLH patients, uses genetically modified stem cells to deliver an anti-cancer protein called TRAIL (Tumour Necrosis Factor related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand) to tumours. TRAIL activates a self-destruct pathway in cancer cells, but does not impact healthy cells.
Principal Investigator Professor Sam Janes, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at UCL and Consultant in Respiratory Medicine at UCLH, said:
“Lung cancer is very difficult to treat because the vast majority of patients are not diagnosed until the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. One therapy option for these patients is chemotherapy, but even if successful this treatment can normally only extend lives by a handful of months. Chemotherapy can also cause widespread toxic side-effects.
“We aim to improve prospects for lung cancer by using a highly targeted therapy using stem cells, which have an innate tendency to home to tumours when they’re injected into the body. Once there, they switch on a ‘kill’ pathway in the cancer cells, leaving healthy surrounding cells untouched. If clinical trials are successful, our treatment could be transformative for the treatment of lung cancer and possibly other types of tumour in future.”
Each patient will receive billions of cells in three infusions, alongside normal chemotherapy. To meet this demand, 100 billion cells will be created at the Royal Free Hospital's cell manufacturing lab over the next three years. A key advantage of the treatment is that the cells can be used ‘off the shelf’ and do not need to be from a close relative or tissue match. This is because they have relatively few proteins on the surface and do not induce an immune response in the recipient.
The trial is being funded by a £2 million grant from the Biomedical Catalyst, which is managed jointly by the Medical Research Council and Innovate UK. Chris Watkins, Director of Translational Research at the MRC, said the new therapy “is truly at the cutting edge and will draw on the UK’s unique position as a leader in the field of cell-based therapies”.
