GCAR1 CIHR funding announced to study CAR T-cell therapy for patients with GPNMB-Expressing solid tumors

GCAR1 is a  Phase I feasibility and safety study of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory GPNMB-Expressing solid tumors.

CAR T-cell therapy is a promising new treatment that has been used successfully to treat and even cure refractory blood cancers. It involves taking functional T-cells from the patient, genetically modifying them to target the cancer cell, and then infusing them back into the patient to attack and clear the cancer by harnessing the patient's own immune system. Scientists at the University of Calgary have been able to create a new CAR T-cell product that attacks different types of cancers in mouse models, including a rare type of sarcoma in adolescents and young adults, and other cancers such as breast and kidney cancers.

The researchers want to take the next step to deliver this therapy directly to patients in a clinical trial. The main goal of the proposed clinical trial is to deliver this CAR T therapy to patients, assess for safety (i.e. monitoring for complications related to treatment), and assess for anti-tumor activity. The hope is that this treatment provides benefit for patients that receive this novel therapy. They will be studying how these CAR T cells work, with additional research studies planned on samples obtained as part of this study. There are a number of patients across Canada with tumors that express the same target for these CAR T cells. The goal is to open this trial across multiple sites across Canada, providing a much needed therapy option for patients who would otherwise succumb to their disease.

CAR T therapy will continue to grow as a therapeutic option for patients with refractory malignancies and thus support for this in the early stages will result in significant impact to Canadians and others elsewhere in the future if proven successful.

Principal Investigators: Shafey, Mona; Abdul Razak, Albiruni R; Hay, Kevin A; Henning, Jan-Willem; Kekre, Natasha; Mahoney, Douglas J; Morrissy, Anca S; Noujaim, Jonathan; Simmons, Christine E