Virus-loaded immune cells that trigger tumor self-destruction (autosis)
Official title: Induction of autosis to overcome resistance in adoptive cell therapy for solid tumors
Funded at Methodist Hospital Research Institute · NIH-11302625 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses tumor-targeting T cells loaded with a harmless virus to make resistant solid tumors self-destruct, offering new hope for people with hard-to-treat solid cancers.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Methodist Hospital Research Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $569,100 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA278911-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11302625 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be people with solid tumors that have not responded to standard treatments and who are eligible for adoptive T-cell approaches, especially when tumors show mixed antigen expression.
✕Less likely to help
People with blood cancers, tumors that lack the specific targets used by the engineered T cells, or who cannot receive viral or cell-based therapies are less likely to benefit.
What this research studies
If you have a solid tumor, researchers are creating tumor-targeting T cells that are loaded with a harmless myxoma virus to help them kill cancer cells. They believe these virus-armed T cells prompt a special kind of tumor cell self-destruction called autosis, which may kill both antigen-positive and antigen-negative cancer cells. The team will study how viral factors and T cell signals work together to trigger autosis and whether the approach can clear tumors when only about 25% of cells carry the target. If lab and animal studies are promising, this approach could move toward clinical testing as a way to overcome resistance to current CAR-T therapies in solid cancers.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could enable immune-cell therapies to eliminate solid tumors that currently resist CAR-T approaches, even when tumors are highly varied in their antigen makeup.
How similar studies have gone: CAR-T therapies have succeeded for some blood cancers but not solid tumors; virus-armed T cells are an emerging preclinical strategy and autosis as a T cell–driven killing mechanism is largely novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Methodist Hospital Research Institute
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lu, Yong — Methodist Hospital Research Institute
- Study coordinator: Lu, Yong
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.