Artificial Lymph Nodes May Overcome the Weaknesses of Cellular Cancer Immunotherapies

Among the most promising cancer treatments are T-cell immunotherapies. However, there are many problems with T-cell therapies. Cells not being activated sufficiently and treatment having only a very short-lived effectmake cellular immunotherapies weak, particularly in solid cancers. In this context, researchers at John Hopkins University discovered an effective way to activate T cells. According to a study published in April 2019 in Advance Materials , the artificial lymph nodes developed successfully activated T cells. Injecting artificial lymph nodes into patients could effectively activate T cells against cancer.

In current T-cell treatments, T cells are first isolated from the patient’s blood sample. They are activated in the laboratory or prepared to attack cancer cells using genetic engineering. One such treatment, CAR T-cell therapy , is very costly (half a million dollars for 1 patient) and can only be performed at centers specializing in T-cell genetic engineering. Preparing this treatment from a person’s own T cells takes 6 to 8 weeks, and the cells do not persist long after being given to patients. The treatment effect is very short-lived.

The study developed a gel-like polymer for T cells. This gel contains two types of signals. The first stimulates T cells, while the second trains them to attack cancer cells.

• T cells activated with the gel were observed to produce % 50 more cytokines. Cytokines are an indicator of T-cell activation.
• T cells were found to prefer a soft microenvironment . More than % 80 of T cells were observed to proliferate on a soft surface.
• When placed in soft gel, T cells expanded within 7 days from a few cells to 150.000 cells. With current methods, in 7 days, 20.000 cells could be produced.
• The activated T cells were injected into melanoma mouse models. In tumor-bearing mice injected with hydrogel-produced T cells, tumors remained stable and some mice survived more than 40 days. Mice injected with T cells produced using current methods showed tumor growth, and none survived more than 30 days.

So What Does This Study Mean for Us?

• An effective way to activate T cells has been found. T cells produced with hydrogels were observed to be more effective than those produced with current methods.
• The hydrogel’s feature is that it creates the natural T-cell microenvironment. Artificial lymph nodes could change the entire strategy of CAR T-cell therapies.
• It should be emphasized that this study is still at the laboratory stage.