UCSF scientists reprogram immune cells inside the body to fight cancer

· Science · United States

Scientists at UC San Francisco have developed a method to create cancer-fighting CAR-T cells directly inside the body, potentially avoiding the slow and very expensive process of removing a patient's immune cells, engineering them in a lab and reinfusing them. The team used a two-particle delivery system to send CRISPR gene-editing components into the body, according to the report. If it works in patients, the approach could widen access to CAR-T therapy, which is currently limited by manufacturing time and cost. The work is still early-stage research, and the report does not give clinical trial results, so questions about safety, durability and effectiveness in humans remain open.

Why it matters：In-body CAR-T production could remove the manufacturing bottleneck that limits access to a powerful cancer therapy.

Key points

  • The method aims to create CAR-T cells without removing and re-engineering a patient's cells.
  • A two-particle delivery system carries CRISPR gene-editing components into the body.
  • Conventional CAR-T therapy is described as slow and extremely expensive.

Sources (original reporting)

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