A new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center suggests that a simple dietary supplement could enhance CAR T cell function. The study, presented at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, explores a potential cost-effective strategy to improve CAR T cell therapy and its ability to fight cancer.
CAR T cell therapy is a personalized treatment pioneered at Penn Medicine that uses patients’ own immune cells to target and destroy cancer cells.
The study, led by Dr. Shan Liu and Dr. Puneeth Guruprasad, focuses on targeting T cells through diet to enhance CAR T cell therapy. The researchers found that a ketogenic diet, which increases levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), a metabolite produced in response to the diet, improved tumor control and survival in a mouse model of diffuse-large B-cell lymphoma.
The research team combined BHB supplementation with CAR T cell therapy in laboratory models of human cancer, which resulted in complete cancer obliteration and increased CAR T cell expansion and activation. They also found that higher BHB levels in the blood were associated with better CAR T cell expansion in patients who had received therapy.
Further studies are being conducted, including a Phase I clinical trial at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center to test the effect of BHB supplementation on patients with large B-cell lymphoma receiving CAR T cell therapy.
The researchers caution that the study is still preliminary, and definitive clinical evidence is needed before making any dietary or supplement recommendations to patients based on these findings.
The study was partly funded by the Penn-CHOP Microbiome Core.
Dr. Liu will present the findings at the Plenary Scientific Session on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. PT in the San Diego Convention Center Hall B.
Patients interested in clinical trials at the Abramson Cancer Center can search open clinical trials here or call 1-855-216-0098 to speak with a clinical trial navigator.
