Wurzburg. On Tuesday, August 13, 2024, a check was presented from the Max Armbrecht Leukemia Aid Association to the University Children’s Hospital. Prof. Dr. Paul-Gerhardt Schlegel, together with Dr. Ignazio Caruana, accepted a check for €25,000 on behalf of the children’s hospital.
Dr. Caruana works in the field of CAR-T cell research. Personalized immunotherapy with genetically modified defense cells is a great hope for patients who suffer from leukemia, among other things. So that the body’s own defense cells can better detect and destroy the malignant cells in the blood, bone marrow or lymph nodes, blood is taken from those affected and a so-called leukapheresis is carried out: to obtain the individual T cells, the white blood cells, the leukocytes, are filtered out of the blood of the respective patient and the remaining components of the blood, plasma and red blood cells, are returned to the circulation. In the laboratory, the T cells are equipped with a surface marker tailored to the disease, the chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR for short. With this biosensor, the CAR-T cells can better recognize and eliminate the cancer cells.
Dr. Caruana’s current research project is developing these cells further in the laboratory. This project succeeds in making these cells so fit outside the body that they a) can recognize and destroy their target even better (effectiveness) and b) can remain in the body for significantly longer (persistence).
Promoting treatment options for young leukemia patients has long been an important concern of the Max Armbrecht Leukemia Aid. The Max Armbrecht Leukemia Aid’s vision of one day being able to give all children suffering from leukemia a reliable prospect of a cure is thus moving forward.
Until then, the association will of course continue to support affected patients and their families as best as possible within the scope of its statutory purpose.
Text: Nicolas Sauer, Max-Armbrecht-Leukemia Aid
