Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, largely because it is usually discovered only after it has spread to other organs.
For patients with advanced disease, survival is often measured in months, and current treatments offer limited benefit.
Now, scientists at UCLA have developed a new type of immunotherapy that could bring fresh hope to a cancer that has long resisted medical breakthroughs.
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the UCLA team describes a treatment called CAR-NKT cell therapy.
In preclinical studies, this therapy was able to track down and destroy pancreatic tumors, even after the cancer had spread to distant organs such as the liver and lungs.
What makes this approach especially promising is that it is designed to be used “off the shelf.”
Unlike most current cell therapies, which must be custom-made from a patient’s own immune cells, CAR-NKT cells can be produced in large quantities from donated blood stem cells, stored, and used immediately when needed.
This could be critical for pancreatic cancer patients, who often cannot afford to wait weeks for a personalized therapy to be manufactured.
The researchers estimate the cost could be around $5,000 per dose, far lower than existing cell therapies that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Traditional CAR-T cell therapies have shown dramatic success in certain blood cancers but have struggled against solid tumors like pancreatic cancer.
These tumors surround themselves with dense tissue and immune-suppressing cells that block therapeutic immune cells from entering. They also change their surface markers over time, making them difficult to recognize and attack.
To overcome these defenses, the UCLA researchers turned to a rare type of immune cell known as invariant natural killer T cells, or NKT cells.
When engineered with a cancer-targeting receptor aimed at mesothelin, a protein commonly found on pancreatic cancer cells, these cells can attack tumors through several pathways at once.
This multi-pronged approach makes it much harder for the cancer to escape by changing its identity.
The team tested the therapy in advanced laboratory models that closely mimic human pancreatic cancer, including tumors growing in the pancreas itself and cancers that had spread to the liver.
In these demanding tests, the CAR-NKT cells were able to find tumors wherever they formed, penetrate protective tissue barriers, slow tumor growth, and significantly extend survival. Importantly, the cells remained active and effective even in the hostile tumor environment, showing little of the exhaustion that often limits other immune therapies.
Another major advantage of this platform is its broad potential use. Mesothelin is also found in several other aggressive cancers, including ovarian, lung, and triple-negative breast cancer.
In earlier studies, the same CAR-NKT therapy showed effectiveness against these cancers as well, raising the possibility of a single treatment that could work across multiple tumor types.
With preclinical testing now complete, the UCLA team is preparing to seek approval to begin clinical trials.
If the therapy proves safe and effective in patients, it could mark a major step forward for pancreatic cancer treatment, offering a faster, more affordable, and more powerful option for people who urgently need better care.
Source: UCLA.
