The Challenge
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy involves genetically modifying a patient’s immune cells to target and destroy cancer. While it has shown great success in treating certain blood cancers, significant challenges remain, such as life-threatening side effects and limited efficacy in solid cancer/tumours. These hurdles prevent CAR T-cell therapy from being widely used as a first-line treatment for various cancer types.
Project Overview
The Call Lab at WEHI is pioneering innovative approaches to enhance CAR T-cell therapy's safety and effectiveness. Focusing on blood and brain cancers, the project aims to develop new CAR T-cell products ready for clinical trials. The ultimate goal is to improve survival rates and overall wellbeing for patients.
Project Outcomes
- Identify Clinical Trial Candidates: Discover CAR T-cell therapies ready for human clinical trials that offer improved safety and efficacy.
- Broaden Applications: Explore the potential to extend CAR T-cell therapy to other types of cancer.
- Attract Funding and Partnerships: Utilise data to secure additional funding and partnerships with industry leaders.
Measuring Impact
Hearts and Minds measures its impact across six core categories developed by the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes. Key highlights include:
Advancing Knowledge
- Collaborations: Established global and local partnerships with institutions such as WEHI (Brain Cancer Centre), Weizmann Institute, Monash University, Ludwig-Max University, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
- Publications: Published a key paper, "De novo-designed transmembrane domains tune engineered receptor functions" in eLife 11, 2022, which received significant attention with 4,984 views, 845 downloads, and 32 citations.
- Presentations: Delivered key presentations at various international and national conferences.
- Community Awareness: Raised public awareness through WEHI’s press release, and involving consumers who have undergone CAR T-cell therapy.
Research Capacity Building
- Support for Early-Stage Researchers: Funded the salary of Dr. Ashleigh Davey, an early-career female researcher.
- Panel Involvement: Engaged researchers in national and international review panels to shape the future of CAR T-cell therapy.
Health Impacts
The program aims to:
- Enhance Efficacy and Safety: Achieve equal or better efficacy with improved safety in pre-clinical models compared to existing standards.
- Improve Patient Outcomes: Enhance patient survival rates and quality of life, enabling them to live longer, healthier lives.
Economic Impacts
- Grant Success: Secured several grants from NHMRC, Cancer Australia, and the Leukaemia Foundation to support ongoing research and development.
Social Impacts
The program has the potential to:
- Promote Safety and Awareness: Foster safer attitudes towards CAR T-cell therapy and increase awareness.
- Improve Accessibility: Make CAR T-cell therapies more accessible to disadvantaged populations, including those in regional and remote communities.
Informing Decisions
- Expert Involvement: Active participation of researchers in national and international review panels to influence and improve CAR T-cell therapy practices.
By focusing on innovative approaches and fostering key partnerships, the Call Lab at WEHI is paving the way for safer and more effective CAR T-cell therapies, with the potential to transform cancer treatment and significantly improve patient outcomes.
Funding support from Hearts and Minds Investments, as nominated by Core Fund Manager, TDM Growth Partners.
This content was last updated in July 2024, for further information visit WEHI.
