Abramson Cancer Center was granted $14 million from the National Institutes of Health to help develop and redefine kidney transplants for cancer patients on the waitlist.  Currently, over 90,000 patients are on the kidney transplant list.  Every 14 minutes, someone is added to this list.  Therefore, Penn is advancing organ transplants for cancer patients on the transplant waitlist with end-stage renal diseases.

Penn’s team developed the (CAR) T Cells.  CAR T cells will be used as a new immunotherapy in patients as a fight against cancer.  These cells can be used for patients on the transplant list who have not yet found a compatible kidney.  “CAR T cells represent a powerful and specific therapy targeting immune cells that produce antibodies that preclude successful transplantation,” said Carl H. June, MD, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. “By combining two CAR T therapies targeting antigens that are found on B cell and plasma cells, we hope to achieve successful kidney transplantation in patients with pre-existing antibodies.”

A clinical trial will be launched using Penn’s innovative CAR T cells.  The trial will start enrolling patients towards the end of 2022.  Research has shown that CAR T immunotherapy has been very promising against cancer.  “There is a very high degree of enthusiasm for this research and the impact it can have for patients in need with a treatment approach that could change clinical practice and expand access to transplantation for those with immunologic barriers that currently make them unlikely to receive a transplant,” added Vijay Garud Bhoj, MD, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn.

To read more about Penn’s CAR T cells helping to solve the organ transplant crisis, read here.