Why CAR T-cell therapy helps some solid tumors but not others
Official title: Response and resistance to chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy in human solid tumors using spatial multi-omics
Funded at University of Pennsylvania · NIH-11195013 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses advanced tissue-level testing to learn why CAR T-cell therapy helps some people with solid cancers like pancreatic and prostate cancer and not others.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pennsylvania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | September 18, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $406,250 |
| NIH project number | 5DP5OD037346-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11195013 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people enrolled in the participating CAR T clinical trials—particularly those with pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, or the specified lymphoma trial—who can provide tumor tissue samples before and after treatment.
✕Less likely to help
People not receiving CAR T therapy, those with cancer types not included in these trials, or those unable or unwilling to provide tumor biopsies are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
If you are treated with CAR T therapy in one of the included trials, researchers will analyze tumor tissue taken before and after your treatment using a new spatial multi-omic method that maps cells and their signals in their exact locations. The team will apply this platform to specimens from five CAR T clinical trials covering pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and an IL-18–secreting CAR T approach in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. By comparing these different tumor environments, they will look for cellular interactions—especially between tumor cells, CAR T cells, and myeloid immune cells—that link to success, resistance, or inflammatory toxicity. The goal is to identify actionable mechanisms that could guide safer and more effective CAR T strategies for solid tumors.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to safer, more effective CAR T treatments for solid tumors and help match patients to therapies more likely to work for them.
How similar studies have gone: CAR T-cell therapy has been highly successful for blood cancers, but using spatial multi-omics to understand CAR T responses in solid tumors is a newer approach with limited prior demonstration of clear clinical benefit.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rech, Andrew John — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Rech, Andrew John
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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.