Grant: Project Grant

Chimeric antigen receptor cell therapy is a new form of cancer therapy that modifies a patient's own immune cells in order to give them the ability to eliminate cancer cells. These therapies have been shown to be highly effective against certain cancers. A major challenge in the continued development these therapies is that most of the modified immune cells do not participate in the killing of tumor cells as intended. This variability increases the potential for side-effects, as well as higher dosage requirements that results in greater cost. In order to determine why only some of the modified immune cells are functional, we are developing a technology to separate cells based on behaviour observed under a microscope. Using this technology, we will separate cells that function efficiently in tumor cell killing in order to study them in isolation to determine molecular basis that drive their function. This capability will reveal potential approaches to improve the design of these therapies to improve outcomes for patients by reducing side-effects and dosage requirements.