CRISPR cancer trial success paves the way for personalized treatments

‘Most complicated therapy ever’ tailors bespoke, genome-edited immune cells to attack tumors.

A small clinical trial has shown that researchers can use CRISPR gene editing to alter immune cells so that they will recognize mutated proteins specific to a person’s tumours. Those cells can then be safely set loose in the body to find and destroy their target.

It is the first attempt to combine two hot areas in cancer research: gene editing to create personalized treatments, and engineering immune cells called T cells so as to better target tumours. The approach was tested in 16 people with solid tumours, including in the breast and colon.

Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03676-7