Eva Szegezdi
Associate Professor in Biochemistry, Director, Blood Cancer Network Ireland
Co-ordinator INTEGRATE Doctorate Programme in Integrative Genomics, University of Galway, Ireland
Recent research shows that our own immune system may be used to fight cancer. This approach, immunotherapy, can be tailored to patients and is capable of adapting; as the cancer changes, the immune cells can adapt.
Chemotherapy is the mainstream treatment for many blood cancers. Despite its efficacy in eliminating the bulk of the cancer, its ‘one-size fits all’ nature, severe side effects and frequent disease relapse are major issues.
Types of cellular immunotherapy
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy is a form of cellular immunotherapy. For CAR-T therapy, the immune system’s T-cells are collected from the patient’s blood and modified to recognise and attack the patient’s cancer cells. While many CAR-T therapies are being tested for clinical use, research in Blood Cancer Network Ireland (BCNI) and other laboratories investigate the use of another immune cell type — known as natural killer (NK) cells.
NK cells can also be modified to recognise a specific marker present in cancer cells (CAR-NK cells). And while CAR-T cells recognise a single target molecule on cancer cells, CAR-NK cells can identify cancerous cells via a range of receptors.
After being isolated from healthy donors, NK cells are then genetically engineered (to become CAR-NK cells) and processed for cancer treatment.
More adaptable ‘live’ treatment option
NK cells act as ‘living drugs.’ Unlike CAR-T cells, they can be from any donor. After being isolated from healthy donors, NK cells are then genetically engineered (to become CAR-NK cells) and processed for cancer treatment.
Eva Szegezdi, Director of BCNI at the University of Galway, explains: “The drugs currently used for blood cancers have serious side effects as they also kill healthy cells. These drugs also get eliminated from the body very quickly. On the other hand, live immune cells are adaptable and can persist for a long time.”
Genetic engineering of immune cells by BCNI is focused on generating therapeutic CAR-NK cells, which can eliminate cancerous cells — without affecting healthy ones. “Currently, we test these NK cells on biobanked patient samples. When we progress further, we will engage in clinical trials.” She expects the first trial in Ireland to include 20 or 30 patients. “If that is successful, it will probably become an international trial.”
Potential for improved cancer treatments
With these findings and trials ongoing, patients in Ireland could potentially have access to more targeted treatment options, alongside traditional chemotherapy treatment.