(uplifting music)
- My laboratory is focused on using techniques developed
through biomolecular engineering and synthetic biology
to engineer T-cells for cancer therapy.
What that means is we try to engineer white blood cells
so that they can very effectively and specifically
target tumor cells and try to kill them.
And we do so by engineering synthetic proteins, for example,
that would allow the T-cells to recognize tumor cells
and to distinguish them from other healthy cells
in the same patient.
And we also engineer other aspects of the T-cell
so that when they encounter these tumor cells,
they can very effectively eliminate them
by releasing various toxic chemicals for example,
that would trigger target cell death.
Our focus has been on developing what we call
platform technologies, meaning these should be adaptable
for a wider variety of cancers.
For now, we tend to use CD19 for example,
which is a antigen present on blood tumors.
So blood cancers such as B-cell leukemia and lymphoma
as our model system, because it has worked
very well in the clinic.
However, the technology we're developing
should be translatable to other cancers as well.
(upbeat music)
- Hi, my name is Yvonne Chen and I hope
everyone is doing well.
The video you just saw was recorded about four years ago,
and I'm happy to report that we've made quite a bit
of progress since then.
As mentioned previously, my lab focuses on engineering
T-cells to target cancer, and we do so by producing
chimeric antigen receptors or CARs,
that allow T-cells to recognize tumor cells and kill them.
Now, we were the first to report a bi-specific CAR
that can simultaneously recognize two different antigens
called CD19 and CD20, which are found
on the surface of B-cell lymphoma.
And we have been able to carry this technology
from initial molecular design in our laboratory
all the way through to a clinical trial
that opened here at UCLA in October of 2019.
I'm happy to report that our first two patients
had complete responses and they remain
in complete remission now for over six and nine months
respectively, and the trial continues to enroll.
And I'm very appreciative of all of the hard work
from our patients, as well as our clinical team
in support of this trial.
Now, as mentioned in the previous video,
we are really focusing on platform technologies
that can apply to not just a single therapy,
but can be broadly applicable to a variety of diseases.
And we have indeed been able to utilize the experience
that we've built from our CD19, CD20 bispecific CAR project
to the development of additional bi-specific CARs
for cancer therapy.
To that end, we have developed a new bi-specific CAR
targeting BCMA and CS1 for multiple myeloma.
And this project is now being funded by CIRM
for the preparation of an investigational
new drug application, so that we hope
to open the clinical trial here at UCLA in 2022.
And in addition to these blood cancers,
we're also now focusing a lot of our energy
on developing new therapies for the treatment
of solid tumors, which account for over 90%
of all cancer diagnoses and cancer deaths
in the US every year.
Now to that end, our lab was the first to report
a CAR that can respond not just to surface-bound antigens
like CD19 and BCMA, but also to soluble antigens
like TGF beta.
And what this now allows us to do is engineer T-cells
that can respond to environmental signals
that's present in the surrounding of solid tumors,
and that can help us develop more efficacious therapies
against solid tumors that have built up
these defense mechanisms that protect themselves
from the immune system.
So we're very excited about these new developments
and we look forward to bringing these new therapies
developed in our research lab to the clinic.
And I want to emphasize how critical it is
to have funding support from CIRM in order
to carry these technologies to our patient's bedside,
because these trials are honestly extremely expensive
and very complicated.
And so without CIRM, it is really difficult
to do these kinds of translational and clinical research.
And I'm very grateful that we have this resource
here in California to allow us to work on
these exciting technologies and new therapies for patients.
(uplifting music)