Professor Park Hee-ho of Hanyang University Department of Bioengineering, Professor Kim Byung-soo of Seoul National University School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and their joint research team developed an effective immunocyte treatment for solid tumors such as neuroblastoma and breast cancer, according to Hanyang University on October 1. The new technology is evaluated as the next generation (4th-generation) anticancer drug and has the advantage of lower price and more convenience compared to the previous immunocyte treatments.

Generally, solid tumor immunocyte treatments use “chimeric antigen receptor” T cells, which are less effective to solid cancers. Recently, research using “chimeric antigen receptor-macrophage (CAR-macrophage)” for solid tumor treatment began to draw attention. The CAR-macrophage effectively responds to solid tumors through phagocytosis while also preventing the recurrence of tumors by creating long-term immunologic memory by providing and vitalizing tumor antigens onto adaptive immune (T cell).

However, like CAR-T cells, the CAR-macrophage has difficulties forming inside the body and therefore requires explantation or customed gene manipulation for each patient. This generates hundreds of millions of won in treatment expenses and makes broader clinical application difficult.

To solve such problems, the joint research team studied the methods to induce CAR- macrophage generation inside the patient’s body. They created a new gene nanocomposite that targets receptors on the surface of the macrophage and delivers the genes inside it using injections. The nanocomposite named “MPEI/pCAR-IFN-γ” transformed tumor-associated macrophage into CAR-macrophage and effectively removed solid tumors.

Professor Park said that “This research is meaningful in that it suggested a new paradigm for immunocyte treatment. I believe it will be a cheap and effective ‘off-the-shelf treatment’ for numerous solid tumor patients.” 

The research was published in the global academic journal in the new materials field Advanced Materials (IF 30.849) online on September 12. The study was supported by the National Research Foundation, and the joint research team completed patent applications for the research.