CAR T-Cell Therapy To Enable Long-Lasting Tumour Destruction

New Delhi: US researchers have engineered a new ‘smart’ immune cell that when activated by ultrasound can continuously sense and destroy cancer cells for extended periods.

The “EchoBack CAR T-cell,” developed by biomedical engineers at the University of Southern California (USC), could soon be a game changer in the field of cancer immunotherapy.

The study, published in the scientific journal Cell, demonstrates that the powerful new EchoBack-CAR T-cells can attack tumour cells five times longer than regular CAR T-cells, in technology ready for medical applications.

The cells can be remotely controlled to target tumours using focused ultrasound, potentially making treatments safer yet more effective.

The novel approach could overcome major obstacles in treating tumours that are not usually candidates for immunotherapy, while keeping healthy tissue safe, said the team.

Unlike the first-generation, ultrasound-controllable CAR T-cells which usually only attack cancer cells for up to 24 hours before expiring, lead author Longwei Liu, Assistant Professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, said that the EchoBack CAR T-cells function by being activated by ultrasound in the tumour location.