Dr. Meenakshi Hegde, assistant professor of pediatrics – hematology and oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Cancer Center, and her team were awarded a $1.4 million gift over three years from The Faris Foundation to support a clinical trial of a novel form of immunotherapy for children with recurrent or refractory sarcomas.
This trial, known as the HEROS 3.0 trial, will evaluate chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells that are targeted against HER2, a growth protein that is found on the surface of some cancer cells. CAR T cells, which are specially altered T cells that fight cancer, will be administered in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as the PD1 antibody.
[via Baylor College of Medicine News]