The Need

Nearly 2,000,000 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed each year in the United States. Available treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Recently, cell-based immunotherapy utilizing specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) expressing immune cells such as T and natural killer (NK) cells have shown promising efficacy. CAR therapy re-programs T and NK cells to recognize specific antigens on the surface of cancer cells and eliminate them. Different types of cancer cells can express different antigens. Specifically, the expression of tissue factor (TF) has been reported in a large number of cancers, including glioma, pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, esophageal, gastric, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and hepatocellular cancer. There is therefore a need for the technology to generate CAR-T and NK cells against cancer specific TF.

The Technology

Researchers at The Ohio State University led by Dr. Zhiwei Hu have developed a cancer therapy method using genetically modified T and NK cells that express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) against the tissue factor (TF) antigen expressed on cancer cells. This invention includes the generation of novel TF-targeting CARs and the corresponding CAR-T and NK cells for the treatment of cancer. After the production of these clinical grade CAR modified NK or T cells, the immune cells can then be infused into patients in a clinical setting. These new CARs will provide additional options to current cancer therapies, especially within the CAR therapy category. They may potentially be more effective than currently existing CARs for specific cancers and can be used alone or in combination with current cancer therapies.

Commercial Applications

• Targeted Cancer Therapy
• Adoptive CAR-T and CAR-NK Cell Therapy
• Cancer Recurrence Prevention
• Precision treatment for AMD, endometriosis and rheumatoid arthritis

Benefits/Advantages

• Targets cancer cell specifically
• Targets a wide range of diseases that express the tissue factor (TF) antigen
• Prevents future cancer recurrence

Research Interests

The Ohio State University laboratory that developed this technology has expertise in development of novel neovascular-targeted immunotherapy, gene therapy and photodynamic therapy for the treatment of pathological angiogenesis-dependent human diseases, notably cancer, AMD, and endometriosis. The researchers are interested in collaboration for further investigational and translational routes.