UCLA

The rapid expansion of available cancer immunotherapies has resulted in favorable early outcomes. Specifically the use of gene therapy to introduce chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) and T cell receptors (TCRs) in T cells creates new immunotherapy options for patients. While showing early success with these approaches, limitations remain that can be overcome by the use of modification of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to express CARs and TCRs. With modern gene therapy technologies, increased safety and control of the modification of the HSCs can be achieved through the use of a suicide gene.