ENGINEERED CELLS EXPRESSING PROSTATE-SPECIFIC MEMBRANE ANTIGEN (PSMA) OR A MODIFIED FORM THEREOF AND RELATED METHODS

Unmet Need
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related death in American men and it is estimated that approximately 164,690 new cases will be diagnosed in 2018. Various treatment strategies, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, exist for prostate cancer but their success depends on the stage of the cancer at diagnosis. Novel biological therapies that often result in less side effects can also be used to treat prostate cancer. This involves engineering immune cells to genetically express recombinant receptors that will then target tumor cells. However, after the administration of these engineered cells to patients, a method for detecting, monitoring, and modulating this therapy in vivo is needed to achieve maximal therapeutic impact and efficacy.   
 
Technology Overview
Johns Hopkins researchers have engineered T-cells expressing wild type PSMA antigen or an N-terminally modified PSMA variant. These T-cells exhibit both cytolytic activity and cytokine release in vitro. After adoptive transfer of these T-cells to mice with both local and metastatic tumors, tumor size was reduced and survival was increased compared to controls. The researchers also developed a method for detecting and identifying these T-cells in vivo using a radiolabeled tracer for demonstrating localization of the PSMA-expressing engineered T-cells at tumor sites in mice.
 
Stage of Development
The inventors have developed PSMA-expressing T-cells and a method for identifying and monitoring them in vivo. Together, these readily detectable T-cells could be a novel therapy for prostate cancer.  
 

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