CAR T-cell therapy has revolutionized blood cancer treatment, but it hasn’t yet cracked the code for solid tumors like kidney cancer. Solid tumors create tough environments that block immune responses, hide behind varied antigens, and prevent immune cells from getting inside. This often reduces the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapy and leads to resistance or relapse.
Dr. Sidi Chen is taking a new approach to CAR T-cell therapy and doubling the number of ways in which it can fight against late-stage kidney cancer. He has created CAR-T-drug conjugates that seek out and destroy cancer cells and also deliver chemotherapy drugs precisely where they are needed – right to the tumor itself – by using a clever “click” chemistry that attaches drugs directly to CAR T cells.
Dr. Chen’s team is now working to refine this strategy, testing new combinations of CAR T-cell therapies and chemotherapy drugs and validating the results in animal models. If successful, this innovative approach could finally bring the power of CAR T-cell therapy to solid tumors and change the game for patients with difficult-to-treat kidney cancer.
Research Focus
Kidney cancer, CAR T cells, combination therapy
Projects and Grants
Initial development of CAR-T-drug conjugate against solid tumor and application in kidney cancer
