Nanomedicine: Cancer immunotherapy amplifies patients’ immune cells outside the body

An investigational cancer immunotherapy leverages the power of nanotube-polymer composites to create an environment where immune cells can be incubated and made significantly stronger outside the body and then injected back into the blood to blast off a stronger offense against cancer, Yale University announced Aug. 13. 

Yale scientists including Tarek Fahmy, PhD, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, and colleagues have designed a nursery of sorts using batches of carbon nanotubes that hold cytotoxic T cells. This structure allows for better stimulation of the cells and connection with cultures. In just 14 days these incubators can grow T cells by a factor of 200.

“In repressing the body’s immune response, tumors are like a castle with a moat around it,” Fahmy said in an official statement. “Our method recruits significantly more cells to the battle and arms them to become superkillers.”

Researchers have not stopped there. This ideal structure is chemically bound with polymer nanoparticles that hold Interleukin-2, a cell signaling protein. Interleukin-2 then spurs cell proliferation. It should be noted that this process requires 1,000 times less Interleukin-2 than standard cultures.

The researchers also have “seeded” the surface of the nanotubes with molecules that give the T cells a simulation of which cells should be tackled back inside the body. Researchers use a magnet to draw T cells off of the structure in preparation for injection.

Yale scientists published their study Aug. 3 in Nature Nanotechnology. The research is encouraging, but more studies and regulatory approval would be required before this novel treatment could be applied in a clinical setting.