Publications and Presentations

From autologous cancer killers to off-the-shelf products targeting solid tumours like ovarian, prostate and breast cancer, Cartherics is developing them all.

The potential of such therapies is the reason Cartherics’ Chief Scientific Officer Richard Boyd was invited to speak at the international Multi-Functional Cell Therapies Summit in Boston, 4-6 May 2021.

In his presentation, Richard updated delegates on Cartherics’ recent advances.

Natural killer (NK) cells are potent innate immune system effector lymphocytes armed with multiple mechanisms for killing cancer cells. Given the dynamic roles of NK cells in tumor surveillance, they are fast becoming a next-generation tool for adoptive immunotherapy. Many strategies are being employed to increase their number and improve their ability to overcome cancer resistance and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/5/1058

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have revolutionized blood cancer immunotherapy; however, their efficacy against solid tumors has been limited. A common mechanism of tumor escape from single target therapies is downregulation or mutational loss of the nominal epitope.

https://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/oncolytics/fulltext/S2372-7705(21)00002-4

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have been used for efficient destruction of B cell tumors but have been relatively ineffective as therapy for solid tumors. Ovarian cancer is a difficult cancer to treat, with five-year survival rates commonly around 25% of patients at diagnosis.

Despite progress in developing cell therapies, such as T cell or stemcell therapies to treat diseases, immunoincompatibility remains a major barrier to clinical application.

Given the fact that a host’s immune system may reject allogeneic transplanted cells, methods have been developed to genetically modify patients’primary cells.