Researchers at UCLA have developed a way to make ready-to-use cancer-fighting T cells from stem cells found in donated umbilical cord blood.
The cells were engineered to recognise a protein found in many solid tumours. They also kept a second natural way of detecting stressed cancer cells, which could help when a tumour stops showing the first marker.
In mouse models of ovarian cancer and melanoma, a single dose controlled tumour growth and helped the animals live longer. The cells did not cause the dangerous graft-versus-host disease seen in a comparison treatment made from mature donor cells.
The work was published in Cell Reports Medicine and is still preclinical research. Human trials would be needed before the approach could become a treatment for people.
