[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5860\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EEngineering human immunity to take on cancer\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDevelopments in genetic engineering make it possible to \u2018re-programme\u2019 the human immune system so that T cells \u2013 white blood cells that normally fight viruses \u2013 recognize and kill cancer cells. This approach, which directly harnesses the potency of the immune system, holds the prospect of a powerful new weapon in the fight against cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018This is really a very different kind of treatment, with almost endless engineering possibilities unimaginable with a drug or a protein,\u2019 said Dr Martin Pul\u00e8, of University College London (UCL), UK, who is the scientific coordinator of the EU-funded ATECT consortium. \u2018These engineered cells can be thought of as highly complicated little robots.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe way T cell therapy works is that first the cells are taken from a patient\u2019s blood. In the laboratory, they are re-programmed by inserting synthetic genes which make them recognize cancer cells. Finally, these engineered T cells are given back to the patient intravenously. The synthetic genes instruct the T cell to make a so-called \u2018chimeric antigen receptor\u2019, a chemical hook that can make the T cell target cancerous cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPart of the receptor, projecting from the cell wall, is based on an antibody that can identify a cancer cell. When it encounters such a cell, the receptor activates the T cell, instructing it to attack the cancer, replicate itself and recruit other parts of the immune response to the fight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOff-the-shelf treatment\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis T cell engineering has shown huge promise for treating blood cancers, particularly where patients have suffered relapse or their cancer has not gone into remission after chemotherapy. It\u2019s the kind of technology that could have a major impact on cancer survival in years to come, and a major focus for EU research funding. Overall, the EU said it has\u0026nbsp;spent about EUR 1.1 billion on cancer research\u0026nbsp;between 2007 and 2012.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018This is really a very different kind of treatment, with almost endless engineering possibilities unimaginable with a drug or a protein.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Martin Pul\u00e8, University College London (UCL), UK\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt present, the patient\u2019s own T cells are typically used for this treatment. Consequently, the therapy needs to be tailored to each patient making it costly and impractical. In addition, some patients have insufficient T cells of their own. Partners UCL and Cellectis therapeutics within the ATECT consortium are developing a way to make an off-the-shelf T cell therapy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing T cells in a similar way to a blood transfusion is not straightforward, primarily because of the danger of \u2018graft-versus-host disease\u2019 where the donated T cells treat the patient\u2019s tissues as \u2018foreign\u2019 and attack them. The only way of preventing this is to delete the T cell\u2019s own natural antigen receptor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile introducing new genes into T cells is well practised, until recently it has been impossible to delete existing genes with sufficient efficiency to make this possible. That\u2019s where\u0026nbsp;Cellectis therapeutics comes in. It has access to revolutionary technology called TALENs that allows highly efficient disruption of any existing gene.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECombining TALENs with chimeric antigen receptors\u0026nbsp;enables the generation of off-the-shelf anti-cancer T cells. Success will lead to engineered T cell therapies that should be cheaper and more accessible, Dr Pul\u00e8 said. The consortium expects to start clinical trials within the next two years, and Dr Pul\u00e8 said it should take several more years for them to complete the trials and get approval to use it on patients on a general scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003EPicking the right cells\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ET-CONTROL is another EU-funded project looking at T cell treatments by developing ways to sort and select immune system cells that are able to specifically attack cancer cells or germs that cause infectious diseases.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We\u2019re not only working against tumours, but in addition we are trying to find pathogen- or infectious agent-specific T cells, as well as T cells that control the over-inflammation caused by the transfer of the new immune system (graft-verus-host disease),\u2019 Professor Hermann Einsele, the coordinator of T-CONTROL, said. This will allow better control of complications in stem cell transplantation, tumour relapse, infections and graft-versus-host disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The novelty of the project is that we have methods and tools to really select T cells with a defined specificity without actually manipulating these cells,\u2019 said Prof. Einsele, who is professor of internal medicine at the University of W\u00fcrzburg, Germany.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research could greatly improve outcomes in stem cell transplantation by helping the reconstruction of immune responses to tumours and infectious agents. It also holds out promise for treating autoimmune diseases, solid tumours and infections in patients with weakened immune systems, Prof. Einsele said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe SUPERSIST research project, coordinated by Professor Luigi Naldini from Milan\u2019s Universita Vita-Salute San Raffaele, is also looking at the use of haematopoietic stem cells, the blood cells that give rise to all the other blood cells,\u0026nbsp;for treatment of primary immunodeficiencies and at T cells for leukaemia treatment. The consortium is working on ways to \u2018edit\u2019 the genetic make-up of haematopoietic stem cells to restore functions or fix errors in the genes. It is also looking at methods to make T cells target specific leukaemias by tailoring the T cell receptor genes that determine the specificity of these cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt may be some time before T cell researchers claim a decisive victory over cancer. But genetic engineering has provided new weapons, bringing hope of much more effective treatments in future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-lc-pybbk686i-miocuhb9wf77mdfslapuo2ypozf7ew\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-Lc_PyBBk686I_MIocuHb9wF77mdFslaPUo2ypoZF7Ew\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]