A Monash University-led research program will investigate the potential of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR T) cell therapy, previously only effective in blood cancers, for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia and remains a leading cause of death worldwide. At present, there is no cure for advanced prostate cancer.
A multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team of researchers has been awarded a $5 million Synergy Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to develop a highly-tailored treatment for prostate cancer, using next-generation CAR T cell therapy.
NHMRC Synergy Grants support outstanding multidisciplinary teams of investigators to answer major questions that cannot be answered by a single investigator.
CAR T cell therapy uses the body’s own immune system T cells and has transformed treatment for some blood cancers. However, CAR T cell therapy could also be effective in solid cancers including prostate cancer, based on recent evidence published by members of the new Synergy team.
The Synergy Grant program will be led by Professor Gail Risbridger from Monash University’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI), Professor Phillip Darcy  from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Professor Paul Timpson from The Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
Professor Risbridger explained that the best evidence for the usefulness of CAR T cell therapy so far has been in blood cancers. She said that the importance of the team’s approach was the discovery that this therapy could be effective in attacking solid cancers when modulated with chemotherapy.
“This program has been long in the making, with a number of different strands of research only coming together now. For example, my colleague and co-chief investigator Professor Renea Taylor and I are not immunologists, we are cancer biologists with lifetime experience in researching prostate cancer, and working with cancer patients and consumer advocates,” Professor Risbridger said.
“So we are bringing together people with all the expertise we need, to get them closely aligned on this particular problem. We will be working with bioengineers including Monash University’s Associate Professor Daniela Loessner, cancer biologists, immunologists and clinicians including Professor Ian Davis to bring fresh perspectives to the issues, develop a unified approach, and speed up the development of CAR T treatment.”
