Yee and colleagues extracted CD8+ T cells from 11 patients with progressive metastatic melanoma that was no longer responding to conventional treatment and multiplied them in the lab before re-infusing them back into their bloodstream. CD8+ T cells are a type of white blood cell in the body’s immune system that attacks a protein associated with the cancer. Yee, an expert in T cell therapy for patients with cancer, and a researcher in the Hutchinson Center’s immunotherapy program, told the press: “Our results confirm that if we can develop methods to grow these kinds of cells in the lab, then we can give these high-proliferating, helper-independent T cells to all patients for T-cell therapy.”
Read more: Medical news today
