Research Projects

Cancer is a highly dangerous non-communicable disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. Factors such as increased prevalence, delayed diagnosis, multi-drug resistance, exorbitant treatment costs, and tumor relapse make the situation worse. To combat this, the idea of weaponizing the host's immune system has emerged as a ray of hope. Several anti-cancer immune-therapies, including immune checkpoint blockade, cellular therapy, and cancer vaccines, are being developed. However, cell-based treatment remains the most successful, with the discovery of adoptive T cell therapy (ATC). Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-bearing T cells (CAR-T cells) have been successful for blood cancer treatment. However, CAR-T cells face problems in infiltrating solid tumors and limited fitness. A new concept has emerged to utilize CAR technology for solid tumors through macrophages. Screening of immunotherapeutics like CAR-T techniques relies on traditional cell culture systems and is validated in animal models. However, these models often fail to predict the correct outcomes in clinical trials. To solve this problem, engineered in vitro human-relevant models that mimic the critical components of tumor microenvironments can be used. The current project aims to produce human Chimeric Antigen Receptor-bearing macrophages (hCAR-Ma) for immunotherapeutic purposes and screen them through a human-relevant breast cancer model.