J. Andrew Livingston, MD, on Forging Forward With Novel Sarcoma Trials

“We're very excited to bring forward a new study, it's looking at a novel therapy, it's cord blood-derived T-cell receptor natural killer cells. This is going to be a first-in-human study using this new cell therapy for patients with synovial sarcoma and myxoid/round cell liposarcoma. So, there's been a lot of interest in immunotherapy for these 2 sarcoma subtypes previously, and in particular, targeting cancer testis antigens like NY-ESO. So, this study will really build on some of that science and some of the prior therapies, but particularly novel using a TCR... It’s one of the first studies to really look at this type of treatment, and in particular, in patients with solid tumors.”

MD Anderson and Syena are soon initiating a first-in-human phase 1/1b trial of their T-cell receptor natural killer (TCR NK) cell therapy NY-ESO-1 TCR/IL-15 NK in patients with advanced synovial sarcoma (SS) and myxoid/round cell liposarcoma (MRCL). The FDA cleared the investigational new drug (IND) application for the therapy in June 2023.

CGTLive spoke with J. Andrew Livingston, associate professor in the department of sarcoma medical oncology and the department of pediatrics patient care at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, who will serve as the study’s primary investigator, to learn more about the upcoming trial. He touched on previous research in the field that the study is building upon with the new TCR NK therapy. He also discussed the biggest challenges with treating sarcomas, which lie in the disease’s rarity and heterogeneity.

REFERENCE

MD Anderson and Replay announce FDA clearance of IND application for first-in-class TCR NK cell therapy for sarcoma. News release. MD Anderson. June 20, 2023. https://www.mdanderson.org/newsroom/novel-tcr-nk-cell-therapy-sarcoma-receives-ind-clearance-fda.h00-159619434.html