Immune Cells: Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment Options

A group of scientists from the University of Southern California has developed a method to continuously produce progenitor cells capable of generating macrophages, a type of cell essential for the functioning of the immune system.

In a study published in the journal Cell, researchers describe a new technique for obtaining a renewable and expandable supply of granulocyte and monocyte progenitor cells (GMP), precursors of different types of immune cells, including macrophages.

These immune cells contribute to the body’s response against pathogens and could serve as a basis for immunotherapies against cancer and other diseases.

The study shows that GMPs can be cultured and expanded over long periods in the laboratory, as well as genetically modified to recognize and attack specific markers present in cancer cells.

The capacity for self-renewal is considered a characteristic property of stem cells and not progenitor cells. However, researchers have found that, under certain conditions, this capacity can also be maintained in GMPs.

The article’s lead author, Qi-Long Ying, stated that “we found that, under the right conditions, GMPs can also self-renew, dividing extensively while keeping their identity and ability to produce functional immune cells. That gives us a scalable starting point for engineering cell therapies for cancer, infectious disease and potentially many other conditions.”

A potential approach to treating solid tumors

Macrophages may be effective in cancer immunotherapy because they are naturally equipped to infiltrate tumors, phagocytose cancer cells, and help coordinate immune responses.

For this reason, macrophage-based therapies could prove useful for treating solid tumors, compared to T-cell therapies, which have so far shown greater efficacy against certain hematological cancers.

However, large-scale production of mature macrophages for immunotherapies remains complex. To overcome this difficulty, researchers decided to work with their precursor cells: GMPs.

Using a specific chemical cocktail, scientists were able to culture and expand these cells over long periods in the laboratory, preventing them from differentiating prematurely into mature immune cells.

According to Ying “our study suggests that the future of immunotherapy may depend not only on designing better CAR receptors, but also on choosing the right developmental stage of the cell”.

Bioethical Assessment

The application of gene editing to cell therapies is one of the most positive outcomes of CRISPR technology. Modifying cell lines to enable them to detect or eliminate tumors represents a significant advance in cancer therapies, dramatically improving survival rates in some cases.

However, the possibility of adverse effects calls for extreme caution regarding these therapies, which must first be tested in research for the required time.

Added to this limitation is its high cost, which makes it difficult to apply to the population that could benefit from it. It is reasonable to assume that further refinement of these techniques, along with their widespread adoption in many laboratories, will make the process more affordable, thereby making it a realistic therapeutic alternative.