Azlann Arnett
Reprograming CAR T Cells to Overcome Barriers in Treating Solid Tumor Cancers
Summary
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy is a revolutionary treatment that can cure many types of cancer. The therapy works by allowing immune cells called T cells to recognize and kill cancerous cells. Unfortunately, this therapy has been ineffective on cancer types that form solid tumors. Solid tumor cancers cause the CAR T cells to eventually become dysfunctional and no longer able to effectively kill tumor cells. We have designed a new CAR therapy to treat several types of cancer cells that have a molecule called glypican-3 on their surface. While this treatment has been proven safe in our ongoing clinical trials, additional improvements are needed to cure patients. I developed a system to identify genes that prevent T cells from becoming dysfunctional or reverse the process that leads to dysfunction. The goal of this proposal is to find genes that improve the function of T cells and determine how they do so. Ultimately, we plan to activate these genes to reprogram CAR T cells to effectively eliminate patients’ tumors.
Watch a Q&A with Azlann
Receiving the PhRMA Foundation fellowship is an exciting step in my training as a scientist. The award will accelerate our team’s work to develop CAR T therapies that target and eliminate solid tumors, improving the lives of patients and their families.
