T-cell therapy for cancer: Viable Option for Treatment of all Cancers — Virologist

By ABUJAH RACHEAL

Dr Solomon Chollom, a Virologist with Virology Research Division of National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau,

says “the new researched cancer treatment called T-cell is a viable option for the treatment of all cancers.”

Chollom told Nigeria News Agency on Monday in Abuja, while reacting to the novel cancer treatment option by researchers at Cardiff University, Wales, UK.

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The virologist said the discovery is a form of immunotherapy where T-Cells are programmed to attack cancer cells and spare normal cells.

According to him, T-cell therapies for cancer – when T-cells are removed, modified and returned to the patient’s blood to seek and destroy cancer cells – are the latest paradigm in cancer treatment.

He added that the most widely-used therapy known as CAR-T, was a personalised to each patient but targets only a few types of cancers.

He, however, explained that the CAR-T therapy had not been successful for solid tumours, which made up the vast majority of cancers.

He said that the Cardiff researchers had now discovered T-cells, equipped with new type of T-Cell Receptor (TCR) which recognises and

kills most human cancer types, while ignoring healthy cells.

Chollom said that the TCR recognised a molecule present on the surface of a wide range of cancer cells as in many of the body’s normal cells, noting that

“remarkably, it is able to distinguish between healthy cells and cancerous ones, killing only the latter.”

The expert said that Immunotherapy refers to the treatment of diseases by either activating or suppressing the immune system.

He added that “it is essential to note that when the approach is designed to elicit or amplify an immune response, it is called activation immunotherapy.

“However, when the approach is designed to reduce or suppress activities of the immune system, it is called suppression immunotherapy.”

He said that the recent announcement by the Cardiff researchers over the discovery of a category of T-cells with potential to be used as universal

cancer treatment option was novel.

He said that “it falls under the category of activation immunotherapy.

“The new discovery is about some clonally selected T-cells which come with different T-cell receptor (TCR) which upon activation, recognises

and kills almost all forms of cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells in the body.

“Broadly referred to as `Holy Grail’ treatment, the immune product is an upgrade of the hitherto most widely used T-cell therapy called CAR-T,

which is patient specific and cancer specific.”

According to him, CAR-T is personal to a patient at a time and one or two cancer types at a time. This is its limitation which the newly discovered

“Holy Grail” has advantage over. Thus it’s being branded ‘universal’ cancer therapy.

“In the new treatment, the TCR recognises many types of cancers through a single HLA-like molecule called MR1. MR1.

“Unlike typical HLA molecules that vary from one person to another CAR-T is very stable and present in all humans hence its successful used in this designed.

“In view of the above, the new cancer treatment option will likely serve as broad spectrum therapy or a one model fit-for-all cancers plaguing man.”

He said that as an immunotherapy, it would offer safer treatment option than virotherapy for fear of reversion to wild form in virotherapy .

He said: “it should naturally be safer than radiotherapy in view of the possibility of long term cumulative effect of radiation in the body when radiotherapy is employed.

“Similarly, it should be better than chemotherapy for its lack of adverse effects on other organs of the body as it is always the case with most chemotherapies.”

Chollom said it was left to be seen if this would offer cheaper treatment option as most cancer therapies were expensive.

Prof. Oliver Ottmann, the Head of Haematology, Division of Cancer and Genetics at Cardiff University, Wales, UK, recently delivered the

CAR-T therapy, a new type of T-cell therapy with enormous potential to overcome current limitations of the CAR-T treatment for cancer.

Edited By: Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

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T-cell Therapy for Cancer: Viable Option for Treatment of all Cancers — Virologist, Dr. Solomon Chollom