An Endless Supply of Cancer-Fighting Immune Cells? USC…

An Endless Supply of Cancer-Fighting Immune Cells? USC Scientists May Have Just Found It. Cell-based cancer therapies have transformed treatment for blood cancers. T-cell therapies, in particular, have produced remarkable results. But solid tumours have remained far more resistant to this approach. A new study from USC, published in Cell, may have found a path forward, not through better engineering of the cells we already use, but by going one step earlier in their development. Researchers focused on granulocyte-monocyte progenitors, or GMPs - precursor cells that develop into macrophages and other immune cells. Macrophages are naturally good at entering tumours and consuming cancer cells. The problem has always been making enough of them, engineering them effectively, and keeping them functional after storage. Mature macrophages are notoriously difficult to grow in large numbers, hard to genetically modify, and tend to get damaged during freezing. They also accumulate in organs like the lungs and liver instead of spreading through the body the way