Cancer Breakthrough: Novel Cell Therapy Shows Promise in Solid Tumors
An international team led by researchers from Dresden's National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT/UCC) has made a significant breakthrough. Their Phase 1 clinical trial of a novel cell therapy, IMA203, showed promising results for solid tumors. About half of the treated patients, who had not responded to standard therapies, responded to this therapy, with many responses lasting eight months or even years.
The therapy, which targets the protein PRAME, was well-tolerated with mostly mild and temporary side effects. PRAME is almost exclusively produced by tumors, allowing T-cells to specifically attack tumor cells without harming healthy tissue. Prof. Martin Wermke, the lead author of the study published in Nature Medicine, described these results as a breakthrough, with some patients potentially cured of their cancer.
Prof. Martin Bornhäuser, director of the Medical Clinic I and the NCT/UCC Dresden, believes the infrastructure developed over many years will help offer innovative cell therapies like IMA203 to more solid tumor patients. In the next step, IMA203 could be applied in a larger study to patients with melanoma who have not responded to conventional immunotherapy and targeted therapies. Further cell therapies are being tested for other skin cancer diseases and lung cancer at the NCT/UCC Dresden.
The successful trial of IMA203 has opened doors for more innovative therapies. Prof. Esther Troost, Dean of the Medical Faculty of the TU Dresden, and Prof. Uwe Platzbecker, Medical Director of the University Hospital, have expressed their support for the development and offer of these therapies. As the research continues, hopes are high for more breakthroughs in cancer treatment.
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