Hyun Jung Kim and his team have received a new grant from GlaxoSmithKline to study the application of chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cell therapy to colorectal cancer. The grant will provide funding over two years for Kim and his team to use their innovative colorectal cancer-on-a-chip (CRC Chip) platform to test the efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy against colorectal tumors.
CAR-T cells are the engineered T-cells from the patient’s own immune cells that show better anti-cancer outcomes in cancer patients. The CAR-T cells possess robust antigen-specific activity and can precisely kill target tumor cells. This study will verify the therapeutic effects of CAR-T cells on colorectal tumors using an innovative CRC Chip model. Generated CAR-T cells that target a specific antigen on the tumor cells will be re-introduced into the CRC Chip, which will allow CAR-T therapy to be tested.
Kim’s platform is unique in that it is a microphysiological system recapitulating a complex colorectal tumor microenvironment, one that is capable of using an actual patient’s own tissues or gut bacteria. Using the patient’s own tissues opens the doors to learn how different testing variables (for example, gender, age, ethnicity, and dietary habits) may interact with a particular therapy and will provide further insights into the field of precision medicine.
