Development of individualized T cell therapy

Rosenberg SA and colleagues reported that tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) therapy combining lymphocyte removal in the body with chemotherapy or X-ray irradiation is effective for more than 70% of patients in melanoma. This is the ultimate individualized T cell therapy. Although cervical cancer is also undergoing clinical trials, such treatment may be possible even for lung cancer of smokers who have many genetic mutations. We have successfully selected populations that can respond to cancer cells out of TILs in lung cancer tissues. We believe that it is also possible to develop individualized T cell therapies to increase them and administer them to lung cancer patients.

On the other hand, also in TCR gene-modified T cell therapy, it is no longer a dream to carry out personalized T cell therapy by introducing TCR gene matching each patient's neoantigen. In the future, we will use iPS cell bank promoted by CiRA for regenerative medicine. We are working on research to develop individualized T cell therapy derived from HLA-matched iPS cells by introducing some TCR genes which recognize each patient's neoantigens.