CAR Therapy for T Cell Malignancies

T-cells are immune cells in our bodies whose function is to "seek and destroy" cells which are infected by

viruses. Since T-cells actively move around our bodies looking for infected cells, medical science has long tried

to make these T-cells attack cancer cells. Because cancer cells usually come from normal cells in our bodies

without virus infections, T-cells don't normally attack them. By taking T-cells from a blood sample and "re-

programming" them using genetic engineering, medical science has found a way of using T-cells to attack

cancer. These engineered T-cells are called "CAR T-cells" and they can be given back to the patient as a drip.

Once back in the patient, they "seek and destroy" cancer cells as if they were virus-infected cells. CAR T-cells

seem to be a very effective new form of cancer treatment. Cancers can come from any cells in our bodies. Even

T-cells can become cancer cells and some of these cancers are called T-cell lymphomas. This project deals with

the particular problem of CAR T-cells attacking T-cell lymphomas. Scientists working on this project have found

a way of making CAR T-cells that attack the cancerous T-cells but leave plenty of normal healthy T-cells alone.