This video was shared by the Discovery Research team in the Immuno-Oncology and Cell Therapy (IO-CT) thematic research center (TRC) in Seattle, Washington. The team, led by Scientific Director David Kugler, is responsible for taking novel ideas and testing them across the company’s cellular therapy platforms to help design the next generation of cellular therapies. 

The death of this tumor spheroid takes place over an eight-day period. About halfway through the clip, you can see the CAR T cells (small black dots) form a sort of halo around the tumor cell and, as the CAR T cells multiply, the tumor cell doesn’t stand a chance. 

The CAR T cells may be small, but they can be mighty. “For this experiment, we put in about 500 CAR T cells to kill off 5,000 tumor cells” Kugler said. “The CAR T cells are serial killers — each individual CAR T cells can kill multiple tumor cells, and they have the ability to greatly expand.”

Kugler’s team is also studying why some patients do not develop durable responses with CAR T therapy and are working on solutions.

“As our current CAR T therapies are helping to transform the lives of our patients in the clinic, in the lab we are continuing to develop a richer understanding of cellular therapies, with the goal of delivering deeper and more durable responses to an even greater number of patients,” he said.