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Dr. Michael Jensen: New Hope for Pediatric Cancer Treatment
We are proud to support the groundbreaking work of Dr. Michael Jensen, Director of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. He is leading research that will radically change the way pediatric cancers are treated — and cured.
Dr. Jensen has developed a method of reprogramming the body’s own defense system to kill cancer. This technique of genetically re-engineering an individual’s T cells has proven to be safe and effective in the laboratory. His research promises a future of cancer cures without the devastating side effects of radiation and chemotherapy.
Dr. Michael Jensen and the Center for Childhood Cancer Research from ben towne foundation on Vimeo.
The focus of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research is to develop innovative new therapies in its laboratories and translate these advances to groundbreaking clinical trials for children with the most aggressive forms of cancer. The ultimate goal of the Center is to eventually replace cancer therapies such as radiation and chemotherapy that can harm the body, with new, ”smart” therapies capable of eliminating cancer with precision, leaving the body unharmed.
Dr. Jensen and his team are focusing their work on harnessing the therapeutic potential of the immune system. Specifically, they are working to reprogram the body’s infection-fighting T-cells to seek out and destroy cancer cells wherever they are hiding in the body. Steps of T-cell therapy include:
T-Cell Isolation: Healthy T-cells are collected in a tube of blood and taken to the Center for Childhood Cancer Research biofactory. There, the patient’s T-cells will be isolated and prepared for reprogramming.
Genetic Reprogramming: T-cells are genetically reprogrammed with designer DNA that codes for artificial receptors which enable them to find and destroy cancer cells.
T-cell Duplication: Reprogrammed T-cells are then duplicated into several billion T-cells outside the body.
Transferring: Genetically reprogrammed T-cells are then transfused back to the child with cancer where they are expected to hunt down and eliminate cancer cells.
The Center for Childhood Cancer Research’s Therapeutic Cell Production Core, a GMP (good manufacturing practices) bio-factory, will facilitate the acceleration of the T-cell therapy approach from the lab to the clinic. GMP facilities manufacture drug-, cell- or gene-based therapies according to strict standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The GMP facility at the Center for Childhood Cancer Research is one of only three GMPs in the nation that is owned and operated by a freestanding children’s hospital. It is the only GMP facility on the West Coast dedicated to pediatric research.
More on Dr. Jensen’s vision for a world without childhood cancer can be found here:http://www.seattlechildrens.org/research/childhood-cancer/jensen-lab/
