Natural killer (NK) cells engineered to express interleukin-21 (IL-21) demonstrated sustained antitumor activity against glioblastoma stem cell-like cells (GSCs) both in vitro and in vivo , according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The preclinical findings, published today in Cancer Cell , represent the first evidence that engineering NK cells, a type of innate immune cell, to secrete IL-21 resulted in strong activity against glioblastoma, a cancer type in need of more effective treatment options. Our research uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that plays an important role in NK cell memory against glioblastoma, highlighting the potential of NK cells engineered to express IL-21 in treating this disease.
The ability of these IL-21 engineered natural killer cells to recognize and kill glioblastoma stem cell-like cells offers a highly promising therapeutic approach." Katy Rezvani, M.D.
, Ph.D., Professor of Stem Cell Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer with limited therapeutic options.
Current treatment options for glioblastoma include surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, but these options offer limited efficacy and patients have a median survival of just 18 to 21 months. According to the National Brain Tumor Society, the five-year survival rate for patients with glioblastoma is only 6.9%, with an average estimated length of survival of only eight months.
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