SITC 2022 | MEK inhib to combat antigen escape in treating poorly differentiated thyroid cancers with TSHR-CART

Claudia Manriquez Roman, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, discusses future directions in sensitizing poorly differentiated thyroid cancers to TSHR-CART cell therapy with MEK inhibitors. So far, viable CAR-T cells have been successfully developed targeting THSR that are functional both in vivo and in vitro. A challenge remains regarding antigen escape as poorly differentiated thyroid cancers tend to downregulate expression of THSR. A proposed solution is the utilisation of MEK and RAF inhibitors as a strategy to inhibit the genes that are preventing the expression of thyroid gland proteins. Research into the best combination strategy of MEK inhibitors, either as a sequential treatment or as a combination therapy, is currently underway in order to uncover the optimal dose that will be safe for clinical trials whilst maintaining a high expression of TSHR. This interview took place at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy in Cancer (SITC 2022) in Boston, MA.

These works are owned by Magdalen Medical Publishing (MMP) and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All rights are reserved.