Reshmi Parameswaran, PhD, MS, a member of Case CCC's Immune Oncology Program, has received the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust award. The $1M was awarded to Parameswaran for her work in cancer cell therapy. It is to be used over three years to advance novel approaches to treating B-cell cancers.
Parameswaran has developed a new treatment strategy for B-cell cancer patients鈥攅specially for those who don鈥檛 respond to conventional therapies and for whom the disease returns. About 100,000 of the 250,000 B-cell cancer patients diagnosed annually in the United States need a more effective therapy option.
Parameswaran has built modified immune cells that have more power to kill cancer cells without killing normal cells, and, thus, minimize a patient's side effects. To do this, she purifies 鈥淣atural Killer (NK)鈥� cells鈥攚hite blood cells with tumor-killing capabilities. Then a piece of DNA called 鈥淏AFF CAR鈥� is inserted, which gives the NK cells more 鈥渟pecificity鈥� and 鈥減ower鈥� to kill cancer cells, sparing normal cells.
"NK cells from any donor can be used to make BAFF CAR-NK cells," explains Parameswaran, "and when a need arises, these specialized cells can be thawed and injected into patients." Her lab hopes to validate the tumor-killing potential and safety of BAFF-CAR NK cells using mouse models with support from the Falk Trust.
鈥淏oth pharmaceutical companies and clinicians treating B-cell cancer patients have expressed a strong interest in the BAFF CAR-NK cells as a needed therapeutic,鈥� Parameswaran said. 鈥淲ith this funding, we are optimistic to get this product to the clinic within three years.鈥�