Immunotherapy

Cell-based immunotherapies, particularly lab-produced immune cells known as CAR T cells, show promise in treating various cancers. But how do we produce effective ones? Gaetano Gargiulo from the Max Delbrück Center will develop a novel screening tool, supported by an ERC Proof of Concept Grant.

From 2024, the Federal Government and the State of Berlin will fund the establishment of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Berlin. The new site is a cooperation between DKFZ and Charité, BIH, and Max Delbrück Center aimed at closely integrating clinical and translational cancer research.

The Berlin biotech Glycotope and the Max Delbrück Center have signed an agreement to explore the potential of combining Glycotope’s tumor-specific antibodies with CAR technology developed by the Max Delbrück Center. Their common goal: advancing immunotherapies against solid tumors.

After spending many years researching together, a group of scientists has founded CARTemis Therapeutics, a spin-off from the Max Delbrück Center. Uta Höpken, Armin Rehm, Anthea Wirges, and Mario Bunse want to use novel CAR T-cell therapies to help patients with cancers that are currently untreatable.

While CAR-T cells have proven successful in treating certain types of leukemia and lymphoma, these immunotherapies can become even more effective. A clinical trial run by Charité and the Max Delbrück Center has been awarded a grant of several million euros to test a new approach.

Six sites are now collaborating with the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center) in the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT). In Berlin, a central partner is the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in close cooperation with the Berlin Institute of Health at the Charité (BIH) and the Max Delbrück Center.

Armin Rehm and Uta Höpken want to improve our immune defenses against cancer. They have recently shown in human cells what was previously only possible in mouse models. Their findings, published in "Molecular Therapy", have raised the chances of a highly effective immunotherapy being developed for blood cancer.

T cells are usually very good at eliminating diseased cells. But they seem to fail when it comes to tumor cells. In "JCI Insight", MDC teams led by Armin Rehm and Uta Höpken describe what inhibits this immune function, how they can release the brake and boost the immune response against cancer.

Cellular immunotherapies have so far been only partially effective against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A team led by Armin Rehm of the MDC has discovered a possible reason. As they describe in “Cell Reports”, this cancer induces changes in the large blood vessels through which immune cells normally migrate to the lymph nodes.

Three MDC teams have now been awarded grants from the BMBF for their ideas. The grants aim to make laboratory discoveries available to patients as quickly as possible. The focus is on creating new approaches for diagnosing and treating cancer and multiple sclerosis.