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Cancer Research

No evidence that CAR T cell therapy causes secondary cancers
Person in gloves holding a medical bag of liquids.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine

No evidence that CAR T cell therapy causes secondary cancers

In a new study, researchers at Penn Medicine looked for—and did not find—examples where the process of generating CAR T cells caused malignancy.

Kelsey Geesler

The compassionate team behind CAR T cancer breakthroughs
From left, research coordinator Nicolas Sarmiento, project manager Reenie Martins, research coordinator Lee Dengel, and trial sample coordinator Rutendo Manyeka in a hospital.

(From left) Research coordinator Nicolas Sarmiento, project manager Reenie Martins, research coordinator Lee Dengel, and trial sample coordinator Rutendo Manyeka document and prepare paperwork required for T-cell infusion.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News)

The compassionate team behind CAR T cancer breakthroughs

The clinical trial support staff at Penn Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center have helped execute the team science that brings research discoveries from the lab bench to the bedside.

From Penn Medicine News

New ways to modulate cell activity remotely
3D rendering of cells on a blue backdrop

Cells are dynamic, fast-changing, complex, tiny, and often hard-to-see in environments that don’t always behave in predictable ways when exposed to external stimuli. Now, researchers led by Lukasz Bugaj of the School of Engineering and Applied Science have found new ways to modulate cell activity remotely.

(Image: iStock/Maksim Tkachenko)

New ways to modulate cell activity remotely

Penn researchers use temperature to guide cellular behavior, promising better diagnostics and targeted therapies.
Scientists create tiny anticancer weapons that make tumors destroy themselves
Interesting Engineering

Scientists create tiny anticancer weapons that make tumors destroy themselves

Xiaowei (George) Xu of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues have unveiled an innovative approach to cancer treatment that leverages tiny capsules known as small extracellular vesicles to target a specific receptor on tumor cells.

Developing a tiny anticancer weapon
A cancer cell breaking up.

Image: iStock/Bahaa_Aladdin

Developing a tiny anticancer weapon

Penn Medicine researchers have developed tumor-homing nanosized particles that trigger cancer cell self-destruction in preclinical tests.

Meagan Raeke

Brain tumor organoids accurately model patient response to CAR T cell therapy
Microscopic view of a glioblastoma organoid.

Patient-derived glioblastoma organoid treated with dual-target CAR-T cells. T cells (magenta) infiltrate the tumor organoid and kill tumor cells (blue; yellow indicates dying cells).

(Image: Yusha Sun and Xin Wang from the laboratories of Guo-li Ming and Hongjun Song)

Brain tumor organoids accurately model patient response to CAR T cell therapy

Lab-grown tumors respond to cell therapy the same as tumors in the patients’ brains, according to researchers at Penn Medicine.

Kelsey Geesler

2 min. read