Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD, co-director of the Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy at the University of Florida, is leading the MATCHPOINT trial. The treatment uses adoptive cell therapy, which programs a patient’s T cells (essential white blood cells) to seek out and destroy tumor cells. In a previous trial (ReMATCH), Dr. Mitchell’s laboratory demonstrated promise as a safe and effective treatment for recurrent medulloblastoma. In one patient, widespread metastatic disease was nearly eliminated.
MATCHPOINT will test this technique in a pilot study of six patients with recurrent Group 4 tumors. Dr. Mitchell is looking to expand the effectiveness of adoptive cell therapy by combining it with an immune checkpoint inhibitor. This drug prevents the tumor from defending itself through immune checkpoints. At a checkpoint, the tumor cell binds to an immune cell and sends a stop signal to the attacking T cell. The inhibitor eliminates this line of defense, increasing the effectiveness of the immunotherapy.
“Our ultimate goal is to cure children with brain cancers and to move immunotherapy to the frontline of treatment, to potentially avoid or reduce the toxicity of the standard treatments we currently use,” says Dr. Mitchell. He anticipates patient recruitment in the second half of 2024.
