T-Cell Receptor Therapy: Known All About It

Think of your body as a big city and your immune system as the police force to protect that city. In this force, T cells are like ‘policemen on the streets’ guarding, awaiting an opportunity to take action. But sometimes, when cancer is already present, these officers sometimes fail to identify the criminals (cancer cells) who are so good at impersonation.

This is where T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy, comes into the picture – imagine providing these police officers with special high-tech glasses and aspirational training to identify these invisible criminals. The tumour infiltrating lymphocytes are derived from the patient’s body and scientists bestow these ‘special abilities’ on them in the lab, amplify it to an ‘army’, and then inject it back into the patient’s body to fight cancer.

In contrast to other cancer therapies such as chemotherapy, which are like using a weapon that ranges an attack and kills both good and evil, TCR therapy is similar to using special force operatives who only go for the nasty guys while leaving the innocents alone.

This is a very significant advancement as you are utilizing your own immune system but with added benefits. It’s a bit like adding some new firmware to your phone, making it perform certain tasks better; here, however, we are replacing your immune cells with better ones to deal with cancer.

TCR therapy is especially spectacular as it is able to take a sneak peek at the state of cancer cells and maybe notice some problems that other therapies would not. It’s like boosting these immune cell officers by giving them x-ray vision to see through the disguise of these cancer cells.

Researchers and practitioners from all over the globe are still continuing to devise better ways of delivering this treatment in a bid to extend the opportunity to more patients. Since we get to understand a little bit about how it works let’s look into its advantages, risks, complications are other factors of this therapy in more detail.

What is T Cell Receptor Therapy?

TCR therapy is a relatively new type of immunotherapy that makes use of altered T cells to locate and destroy cancer cells. This is done by designing T cells to produce certain T-cell receptors that are able to bind to the cancer antigens that are present on the MHC molecules of the tumor cells.

How TCR Therapy Works?

• Cell Collection: It involves taking T cells directly from the patient’s bloodstream.
• Genetic Modification: T cells are genetically modified in order to produce certain TCRs.
• Expansion: The T cells are then altered then undergo replication in culture media.
• Infusion: The engineered cells are then again transplanted back to the patient.
• Attack: T cells altered target the cancer cells.

How is it Different from CAR-T Therapy?

While both are forms of cell therapy, TCR therapy differs from CAR-T in several ways:

• TCR therapy recognizes antigens presented by MHC molecules
• Can target intracellular proteins
• Generally has better tissue penetration.

Read about How Does CAR T-Cell Therapy Work in Treating Cancer for more details.

Current Applications

Currently, TCR therapy is being studied for:

• Solid tumors
• Melanoma
• Synovial sarcoma
• Multiple myeloma
• Various epithelial cancers

Advantages of  T-cell receptor (TCR)

Here are some of the advantages of how  T-cell receptor (TCR) is in the treatment of cancer:

Enhanced Target Recognition

• Ability to recognize intracellular antigens
• Access to ~90% of potential cancer antigens
• Recognition of processed peptides
• MHC-dependent presentation allows for broader targeting.

Natural Signaling Pathway

• More physiological T cell activation
• Better regulation of immune response
• Reduced risk of overactivation
• More controlled cytokine release.

Solid Tumor Potential

• Better tissue penetration compared to CAR-T
• Ability to recognize diverse tumor antigens
• More effective against heterogeneous tumors
• Better migration capabilities.

Safety Profile

• Lower incidence of severe CRS
• More predictable activation patterns
• Better control of off-tumor effects
• Reduced neurotoxicity risk.

Challenges For  T-cell receptor (TCR)

Challenges that are faced in this treatment consist of the following:

• MHC restriction
• Potential for off-target effects
• Manufacturing complexity
• Cost of production
• Risk of graft-versus-host disease.

Future Directions For  T-cell receptor (TCR)

At the moment research is focusing on:

• Improving TCR specificity
• Reducing manufacturing time and costs
• Developing “off-the-shelf” options
• Combining with other therapies
• Expanding target antigens.

Also Read:- Car-T Cell Therapy Cost in India