Ewing sarcoma is a rare type of bone cancer that mostly affects children, teenagers, and young adults. It often spreads to other parts of the body or comes back after treatment, lowering the chances of long-term survival. Treatment includes surgery, radiation, and strong chemotherapy drugs, but these approaches often cause serious, long-lasting side effects and don’t work well when the cancer spreads or can’t be surgically removed. A new type of treatment called immunotherapy uses the power of the immune system to attack cancer.
T cells are a type of white blood cells that help the body immune system to fight infection and disease. TCR-T immunotherapy involves engineering a patient’s T cells with specific T-cell receptor (TCR) to recognize and destroy cancer cells. While this novel treatment has shown success in treating blood cancers, Ewing sarcoma and other solid tumours remain more difficult to treat. The main challenges are finding ways to target the tumour cells without harming healthy cells, and overcoming the tumour’s ability to block immune cells from working properly.
The goal of this project funded by the Bone Cancer Research Trust in collaboration with Children with Cancer UK is to create a new TCR-T immunotherapy that is more effective against Ewing sarcoma and has fewer side effects. Led by Professor Wenhui Song at University College London, a team of experts from both the UK and China are working together to take steps towards making this treatment a possible future reality.
What are the aims of this research project?
Professor Song and team plan to create a new type of immune cell called TCR-T cells by changing a patient’s own immune
cells to attack a specific gene mutation (EWS/FLI), which is usually found in Ewing Sarcoma. They will also look for other possible targets of Ewing sarcoma cells which have been identified so as to
maximise targeting efficiency. To test how well these modified cells work, the researchers will use 3D cancer
models that imitate the tumour environment. This way, they can study how the TCR-T cells behave
without testing them in humans. Their goal is to make TCR-T cells that only destroy cancer cells, leaving
healthy tissue and organs safe, providing a new, more effective, and safer treatment for Ewing sarcoma.
How could this project improve treatment options for Ewing sarcoma patients?
TCR-T cells can detect markers both on the surface and inside cancer cells. By finding more tumour
markers and using 3D tumour models to test these cells, the researchers aim to increase the number of cancer
markers that they can target. If successful, this project could pave the way towards a new, highly targeted
immunotherapy for Ewing sarcoma, providing a treatment that is more precise and has fewer side
effects.
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