Immunotherapy Combo Reduces Solid Tumors in Mice

When tumor cells are infected with an oncolytic virus carrying a modified CD19 gene, they become targets for CAR T cells engineered to recognize this molecular marker.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 5 min read

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CAR T cells, oncolytic virus, CD19, mouse model, solid cancer, liquid cancer, tumor, immune response, immunotherapy, T cell, treatment

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ABOVE: Researchers used engineered viruses to force the production of the CD19 protein (in purple) on the surface of solid tumor cells in a dish.
CITY OF HOPE

Researchers have been working in recent years to apply the successes of CAR T cell immunotherapy treatments to solid tumors. But breast, liver, brain, and other solid cancers have been less amenable to the approach than blood-based cancers have been. Now, scientists are looking to piggyback CAR T cells with other promising immunotherapies, such as oncolytic viruses, which preferentially infect cancerous cells, to bring the same positive benefits to other malignancies.

A study published on September 2 in Science Translational Medicine details the collective strength of these two immunotherapies to eliminate solid cancers using a protein marker called CD19, which is targeted in CAR T therapies for liquid cancers.

In both human cancer cell cultures and mouse models, solid tumor cells exposed to ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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