'Off-the-shelf' stem cell treatment for cancers enters clinical trial

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In a first-of-its-kind trial in the United States, researchers are testing a stem cell-derived natural killer cell immunotherapy in people with incurable cancer.

Now, researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego School of Medicine are running a clinical trial with industrial collaborator Fate Therapeutics to investigate NK cells both alone and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in people with advanced solid tumors.

One particular factor sets this study apart from others using NK cells for similar purposes.

This "off-the-shelf" NK immunotherapy trial is the first in the U.S. to use cells that the researchers have derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

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The phase I trial started in February and will include up to 64 people with advanced, untreatable cancer. The main aim of the trial is to assess the safety of the treatment. The other objectives are to determine the extent to which the tumors respond to NK cell therapy and to find out how long the cells stay in the participants' bodies.

The team will administer the cells once per week for 3 weeks, either on their own or in combination with one of three checkpoint inhibitors, namely nivolumab, pembrolizumab, or atezolizumab.

"Together with Fate Therapeutics, we've been able to show in preclinical research that this new strategy to produce pluripotent stem cell-derived natural killer cells can effectively kill cancer cells in cell culture and in mouse models," he continues.

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