Research-Initiatives

Development of innovative cellular therapies for cancer treatment

CAR immune cell therapies represent a modern and innovative form of cancer treatment and are effective in a large number of patients with specific diseases like lymphoma and leukemia. However, a large proportion of tumors such as solid cancers are still resistant to this therapy. CARISMa is therefore pursuing the goal of increasing the effectiveness of CAR immune cell therapies, thereby making it accessible for more cancer patients. The effectiveness of CAR immune cell therapy is significantly influenced by the tumor microenvironment, i.e. the environment in which the tumor grows.

The CARISMa consortium will gain a deeper understanding of how the tumor microenvironment interacts with CAR cell therapies to mediate resistance. The goal is to develop new therapy approaches that overcome resistance to CAR cell therapy by defined modulation of the interface between CAR immune cells and the tumor microenvironment. Such approaches have the potential to make CAR immune cells effective against high-risk tumors like glioblastoma or pancreatic cancer that are still a big challenge because they currently do not benefit from CAR cells or other innovative therapies.