Manufacturing Processes for Engineered T-Cell Therapy – CAR-T
Why T-cells are important
- They recognise host vs. non-host cells to initiate an immune response
- They’re the primary immune system agents that attack diseased cells or infection
- They’re used in several cell-based therapies:
- Transplantation of donor T-cells – a bone marrow transplant, in which a matched donor’s cells are used to replace the patient’s cells, is the most widely used approach—typically for diseases that originate in the immune system (e.g., leukemia)
- Isolation and enrichment of a patient’s T-cells – an approach considered the safest because it enhances a patient’s own immune response to disease
- CAR-T therapy – a more recent approach in which T-cells are removed, genetically engineered to express a synthetic receptor against specific cancer cells, then infused back into the patient’s bloodstream; this therapy is effective because many cancer cells “hide” from the immune system by appearing to be normal cells, thereby triggering no immune response
