CANCER

NK cells are the equivalent of “giving patients a “living drug” As its name implies, the backbone of NK cell therapy is T cells, which are often called the workhorses of the immune system because of their critical role in orchestrating the immune response and killing cells infected by pathogens. The therapy requires drawing blood from patients and separating out the T cells. Next, using a disarmed virus, the T cells are genetically engineered to produce receptors on their surface called chimeric antigen receptors, or NK’s.

These receptors are synthetic molecules, they don’t exist naturally. These special receptors allow the T cells to recognize and attach to a specific protein, or antigen, on tumor cells. The NK cell therapies furthest along in development target an antigen found on B cells called CD19.

Once the collected T cells have beenengineered to express the antigen-specific NK, they are “expanded” in the laboratory into the hundreds of millions.

The final step is the infusion of the NK cells into the patient (which is preceded by a “lymphodepleting” chemotherapy regimen. If all goes as planned, the engineered cells further multiply in the patient’s body and, with guidance from their engineered receptor, recognize and kill cancer cells that harbor the antigen on their surfaces.