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Scientists Wipe Out Deadly Childhood Brain Tumors in Every Mouse Tested
Newsweek • • health
Key Points:
- Scientists have developed an experimental immune-cell therapy called B-SYNC CAR-T that completely eliminated diffuse midline glioma (DMG), an aggressive childhood brain cancer, in every mouse tested by activating only after entering the brain.
- The therapy uses engineered T cells with a synNotch biological switch that responds to a brain-specific protein, brevican, to selectively turn on cancer-targeting receptors, minimizing damage to healthy tissues outside the brain.
- In mouse models, B-SYNC CAR-T cells eradicated DMG tumors and provided lasting immunity against tumor recurrence, outperforming conventional CAR-T therapies which failed to control the tumors.
- Researchers at UCSF aim to begin human clinical trials by April 2027, though experts caution that safety and effectiveness in children remain to be established through further testing.
- This approach offers a promising new direction for treating DMG, a disease with a nearly 100% mortality rate within a year and very limited current treatment options.
