City of Hope CAR T Cell Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer Demonstrates Positive Results in Phase 1 Clinical Trial – BioSpace

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Treating prostate cancer with immunotherapy is currently difficult to do. But preliminary results from a first in-human phase 1 trial using a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy developed by researchers from City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, showed that patients with advanced prostate cancer had minimal side effects with the cellular immunotherapy and had promising therapeutic activity, according to a study published today in Nature Medicine.

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Saul Priceman, Ph.D., City of Hope associate professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, and Tanya Dorff, M.D., City of Hope section chief, Genitourinary Disease Program, and their teams worked together on the phase 1 clinical trial using a City of Hope-developed CAR T cell therapy for prostate cancer. (Photo: Business Wire)

The trial treated 14 prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA)-positive patients who had metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), which had spread beyond the prostate and no longer responded to hormone treatment, using CAR T cell therapy. More than 34,000 men with this type of prostate cancer die each year in the United States.

Saul Priceman, Ph.D., City of Hope associate professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, and team developed CAR T cells that target prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) found to be highly expressed in prostate cancer. The treatment took a patients immune cells known as T cells from the bloodstream, and reprogrammed the cells in a laboratory with a CAR to recognize and attack the PSCA protein on the surface of cancer cells. CAR T cells were then infused back into the patients system to destroy cancer cells.

Prostate cancer has been called an immune desert the tumor microenvironment is difficult to treat with immunotherapies because you dont get a lot of T cells inside the tumor, said Tanya Dorff, M.D., City of Hope section chief, Genitourinary Disease Program, and professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research. It takes something really powerful to overcome that. Our study showed that City of Hopes CAR T cell therapy for prostate cancer could be a step closer to doing that.

Our trials preliminary major finding is that PSCA-directed CAR T cells may be effective against mCRPC, Priceman added. This opens up the opportunity to continue to develop this type of cellular immunotherapy for these patients, who currently have no other effective treatment options.

The trials goals were to examine the therapys safety and dose-limiting toxicities, or side effects that limit the amount of treatment that can be administered, as well as preliminary data on the treatments efficacy in patients.

The studys findings were:

One patient who had received several prior therapies responded well to the CAR T cell therapy. His PSA level decreased by 95% and cancer in his bones and soft tissue also declined. He experienced this positive response for approximately eight months.

The patients results were very encouraging, and we are deeply grateful for his participation in our study as well as other patients and their families, Dorff said. We want to continue with this therapy and increase the amount of CAR T cells, and continue to carefully monitor for any health problems, as we think this can improve the therapys effectiveness.

The phase 1b trial using the PSCA-CAR T cell therapy in combination with radiation to enhance anti-tumor activity aims to enroll up to 24 patients.

City of Hope, a recognized leader in CAR T cell therapies, has treated nearly 1,500 patients since its CAR T program started in the late 1990s. The institution continues to have one of the most comprehensive CAR T cell clinical research programs in the world it currently has about 70 ongoing CAR T clinical trials, which include 13 different solid tumor types. The trials use City of Hope-developed therapies and industry-sponsored products. A recent study published in Nature Medicine featured City of Hopes CAR T cell therapy for brain tumors.

City of Hope manufactured the CAR T cells in its own facility, the Cell Therapy Production Center on its Los Angeles campus.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation helped fund the trial.

About City of Hope

City of Hope's mission is to make hope a reality for all touched by cancer and diabetes. Founded in 1913, City of Hope has grown into one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. and one of the leading research centers for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope research has been the basis for numerous breakthrough cancer medicines, as well as human synthetic insulin and monoclonal antibodies. With an independent, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center at its core, City of Hope brings a uniquely integrated model to patients spanning cancer care, research and development, academics and training, and innovation initiatives. City of Hopes growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a new cancer center in Orange County, California, and cancer treatment centers and outpatient facilities in the Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix areas. City of Hopes affiliated group of organizations includes Translational Genomics Research Institute and AccessHopeTM. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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Saul Priceman, Ph.D., City of Hope associate professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, and Tanya Dorff, M.D., City of Hope section chief, Genitourinary Disease Program, and their teams worked together on the phase 1 clinical trial using a City of Hope-developed CAR T cell therapy for prostate cancer. (Photo: Business Wire)

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City of Hope CAR T Cell Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer Demonstrates Positive Results in Phase 1 Clinical Trial - BioSpace