University of Calgary researchers see rare tumours shrink with experimental immune therapy
GCAR1 treatment trained immune cells to attack cancers resistant to other therapies. Two Calgary patients showed significant reduction or elimination.
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Rare solid cancerous tumours appear vulnerable to an experimental therapy partly developed by University of Calgary researchers, with two local patients showing striking results.
The treatment, known as GCAR1, is a type of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that trains a patient's immune cells to recognize and attack tumours resistant to conventional therapies. Two Calgary patients with the rare malignant alveolar soft cell sarcoma underwent the treatment at Calgary's Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Stephanie Alain, one of the patients, has considerably outlived her original 18-month life expectancy. Kent B., 55, underwent GCAR1 alongside conventional immunotherapy and has seen tumours in his lungs noticeably shrink or disappear.
The research has appeared in the journals Nature and Nature Cancer, presented as a foundation for treating rare solid tumours. Dr. Francis Zemp, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, highlighted the remarkable speed of translation from lab to clinic. "Within six months of building the medicine we had data back from mouse studies. The results were so striking we were able to get approval and move the therapy to a patient in 2023," Zemp said. "That speed of translation from the lab to the clinic is remarkable."
Research from Kent B.'s therapy is already being applied to develop more advanced versions of the GCAR1 approach. Though the work remains early-stage, Calgary researchers are hopeful their efforts can help reverse resistance in the most intractable cancers.
