Abstract MS01-1: Using T cell receptor engineered T cells for the treatment of cancer

Abstract

Abstract Adoptive cellular immunotherapy involves the administration of autologous or allogenic tumor reactive T cells into patients to achieve tumor regression and has been successful in transplant-related malignancies, leukemia, and melanoma. The molecule responsible for the recognition of tumor antigens is the T cell receptor (TCR). Best studied in melanoma, this process involves the identification of lymphocytes with high affinity for tumor antigens that can be selected in vitro and expanded and administered to patients. The administration of naturally occurring T cells has been shown to have an objective response rate ranging from 50-70% in metastatic melanoma patients; including bulky invasive tumors at multiple sites including liver, lung, soft tissue and brain. A major limitation to the widespread application of adoptive cell therapy is the difficulty in generating human T cells with anti-tumor reactivity. To overcome this limitation, we can now insert highly active TCR genes into T cells that can recognize tumor antigens. Genetic engineering of TCR genes into normal T cells is a powerful new strategy to generate large numbers of defined antigen-specific cells for therapeutic application. This approach has evolved beyond experimental stage into a clinical reality. The feasibility of TCR engineered T cells has been shown to be an effective clinical strategy resulting in the regression of established tumors in recent clinical trials. Ultimately it may be possible to establish a collection of defined TCR genes that could be used to treat a diverse set of cancers tailored to each patient depending on the expression pattern of their tumor antigens. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr MS01-1.