Cancer Cell & Gene Therapy Program

Baylor College Of Medicine, Houston TX

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

CANCER CELL AND GENE THERAPY PROGRAM PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The goals of the Cancer Cell and Gene Therapy (CCGT) Program are to incorporate advances in cellular and gene therapy into the treatment of cancer. The CCGT Program is a sub-component of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy and has 26 Research Members and 13 Clinical Members from multiple academic departments at Baylor College of Medicine, including Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, Pathology and Immunology, Molecular and Cell Biology, Neurosurgery, and Molecular and Human Genetics. The Program received a total of $5.1 million in direct support from the NCI last year and overall received $14.9 million in direct peer-reviewed funding and $19.1 million in total direct funding. In the last 5 years, Program investigators published 340 cancer-related manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, of which 38% represented intra- and 39% inter-programmatic collaborations each, while 50% were published in journals with an impact factor >10 and 26% with an impact factor >20. Our research focuses on three themes: normal and malignant stem cells, adoptive immunotherapy of cancer, and outcomes of stem cell transplantation on cancer and has basic, translational, and clinical research components. Our basic research investigators work to understand the mechanisms by which normal and malignant stem cell growth is controlled and the molecular and cellular interactions involved in tumor vasculature and stroma development. These researchers are also identifying new targets for immunotherapy and optimizing the presentation of weak tumor antigens to the immune system. Our translational investigators are moving cell- and gene-based therapies from bench to bedside in a series of small-scale, iterative laboratory-clinical laboratory protocols and developing pivotal trials. We have a long history of successful and timely implementation of clinical translational projects in gene and cellular therapy, and we have the resources to supply and test all clinical reagents required through the DLDCCC clinical research infrastructure and the Cell Processing and Vector Production Shared Resource. Major accomplishments in the last 5 years include first-in-man trials of 15 new cell types/constructs and the commercial transfer of several strategies for late-phase testing. We have shown activity of CD5.CAR T cells against T cell malignancies (resulting in licensure of the approach for late-phase trials), and ongoing studies are showing anti-tumor activity of genetically modified T cells in subjects with Hodgkin and non- Hodgkin lymphoma, neuroblastoma, brain cancer, and liver cancer. Our clinical researchers oversee the adult and (in collaboration with the Pediatric Cancer Program) pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant programs. They are also expanding the applicability of transplantation for malignancy using pre-transplant immunotherapy to enable transplant and post-transplant immunotherapy to augment graft-versus-tumor activity and reconstitute anti-viral immunity, as well as exploring strategies to reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease. In response to community input, CCGT investigators are also focusing on making cell therapies more broadly accessible.