Author: Janessi Diaz

CAR T-cell therapy, a revolutionary treatment for blood cancers, genetically modifies T-cells using CRISPR to replace their receptors with specialized ones called CARs. These CAR T-cells target antigens on cancerous blood cells, triggering an immune response that enables the patient’s body to destroy cancer cells. Additionally, CRISPR is used to deactivate genes that hinder the therapy’s efficacy. However, CAR T-cell therapy has struggled to target solid tumors due to their heterogeneity. Recent research from MIT’s Koch Institute introduces a promising solution using amphile fluorescein isothiocyanate tagging (amph-FITC). By injecting tumors with amph-FITC tags and treating them with FITC-specific CAR T-cells, researchers achieved successful tagging and destruction of cancerous cells while minimizing impact on healthy tissue. This breakthrough, although not yet tested on humans, holds potential to effectively treat and cure various cancers if approved for clinical applications.