T cells hold hope against refractory multiple myeloma

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Health

Context:

Scientists have engineered a new variant of cancer-fighting T cells that can suppress multiple myeloma tumours in mice while showing superior persistence and endurance compared with standard CAR T cell designs.
The new cells’ promising effects and durability suggest they could grant badly needed treatment options to patients with refractory or relapsed multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma:

Multiple myeloma is a cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell.
Healthy plasma cells help fight infections by making proteins called antibodies. Antibodies find and attack germs. In multiple myeloma, cancerous plasma cells build up inthe bone marrow.
Multiple myeloma is the second most common type of blood cancer in adults.

T-cells:

These Cells are also called T lymphocytes, a type of leukocyte (white blood cell) that is an essential part of the immune system.
T cells are one of two primary types of lymphocytes—B cells being the second type—that determine the specificity of the immune response to antigens (foreign substances) in the body.
T cells originate in the bone marrow and mature in the thymus.
In the thymus, T cells multiply and differentiate into helper, regulatory, or cytotoxic T cells or become memory T cells.
They are then sent to peripheral tissues or circulate in the blood or lymphatic system.
Once stimulated by the appropriate antigen, helper T cells secrete chemical messengers called cytokines, which stimulate the differentiation of B cells into plasma cells (antibody-producing cells).

T cell’s role in controlling immunity:

Regulatory T cells act to control immune reactions, hence their name.
Cytotoxic T cells, which are activated by various cytokines, bind to and kill infected cells and cancer cells.
Because the body contains millions of T and B cells, many of which carry unique receptors, it can respond to virtually any antigen.

Source: TH