CAR-T cells are modified immune cells that hunt down cancer cells, generating an immune response while avoiding side effects throughout the body. CAR T-cell therapy has been successful with certain blood cancers, including Leukemia, however, there is much less success in solid tumors such as glioblastoma. A team at Penn including Donald O’Rourke, MD, and Zev A. Binder, MD, PhD, will test the treatment of dogs with brain tumors by using CAR T cells to target a protein called IL13Rα2, which is found in glioblastoma cells. Studying the canine patients will provide information to inform human glioblastoma CAR T clinical trials, while also helping dogs with brain tumors.
