FOXO1 enhances CAR T cell stemness, metabolic fitness and efficacy. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38600376/)

These scientists wanted to make a type of treatment called CAR T cell therapy work better for solid tumors, which are a type of cancer that is harder to treat. They found that the CAR T cells used in this therapy need to have certain characteristics to be more effective.

To make the CAR T cells better at fighting solid tumors, the scientists decided to add a special protein called FOXO1 to the cells. This protein helps the CAR T cells to have more energy and stay strong for a longer time. They tested this idea by putting FOXO1 into CAR T cells from both healthy people and patients with cancer.

After adding FOXO1, the CAR T cells became more like a special type of cell that is really good at fighting cancer. These improved CAR T cells were able to stay active for a longer time and were more effective at killing cancer cells in experiments done on animals.

This study shows that by adding FOXO1 to CAR T cells, scientists can make them better at fighting solid tumors. This discovery could help make the treatment of cancer more effective in the future.

Chan JD., Scheffler CM., Munoz I., Sek K., Lee JN., Huang YK., Yap KM., Saw NYL., Li J., Chen AXY., Chan CW., Derrick EB., Todd KL., Tong J., Dunbar PA., Li J., Hoang TX., de Menezes MN., Petley EV., Kim JS., Nguyen D., Leung PSK., So J., Deguit C., Zhu J., House IG., Kats LM., Scott AM., Solomon BJ., Harrison SJ., Oliaro J., Parish IA., Quinn KM., Neeson PJ., Slaney CY., Lai J., Beavis PA., Darcy PK. FOXO1 enhances CAR T cell stemness, metabolic fitness and efficacy. Nature. 2024 May;629(8010):201-210. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07242-1. Epub 2024 Apr 10.