NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 8 - T cells from colorectal cancer patients can be transduced with a recombinant anticarcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) immunoreceptor so that they become activated by their autologous tumor cells, German researchers report in the August issue of Gut.
Senior investigator Dr. Hinrich Abken told Reuters Health that the results "clearly demonstrate that tolerance of the patient towards his tumor can be overcome by specifically redirecting the patient's own T cells."
Dr. Abken of the University of Cologne and colleagues isolated T cells from colorectal cancer patients and successfully engineered them to express anti-CEA immunoreceptor on the cell surface. In vitro, autologous CEA-positive tumor cells caused the engineered T cells to secrete interferon and lyse the tumor cells.
Furthermore, addition of the intracellular signaling domain CD3zeta plus the CD28 co-stimulator was found to substantially enhance the cellular immune response against autologous tumor cells.
The researchers point out that such in vitro studies "do certainly not reflect in toto the natural tumor microenvironment during T cell attack."
Nevertheless, the approach as well as being promising in treatment may be helpful in prevention, concluded Dr. Abken. "Engineering immunologically competent effector cells, as we have successfully performed ... provides a novel strategy to shape the immune system in order to recognize own tumor cells somewhere in the body and to destroy them before the disease cancer occurs."
By David Douglas
Last Updated: 2006-08-07 13:11:05 -0400 (Reuters Health)
Gut 2006;55:1156-1164.
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