CRISPR has already shown promise at editing the genes of patients with beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease in clinical trials. Two had the blood cancer multiple myeloma and one had sarcoma, a cancer that attacks connective tissues. The researchers paired the use of CRISPR with a type of immunotherapy in which scientists harvest T-cells from a patient’s immune system, reprogram them to attack cancer cells and infuse them back into patients. Engineered T cell therapies, such as CAR-T therapy (or chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy), can produce long-lasting remission in patients with blood cancers. Study co-author Dr. Carl June, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who pioneered CAR-T cell therapy, said the team found two off-target effects.

Source: National Post February 06, 2020 22:41 UTC