CRISPR CREATES BLOOD RESISTANT TO CANCER TREATMENT

The idea sounds like something out of a movie: modify healthy blood so that it can survive an attack designed to destroy cancer. But that is precisely what researchers are trying to achieve by using CRISPR.

The problem lies in a protein called CD33. It is found in the malignant cells of certain blood cancers, particularly acute myeloid leukemia, but it is also present in normal blood cells. This creates a major challenge: a treatment that is aggressive enough against CD33 may attack the cancer, but it may also destroy cells that the patient needs.

The strategy is to change the rules of the game first.

The scientists modified it using CRISPR blood stem cells from donors for delete CD33. They were then transplanted into patients with the aim of rebuilding a blood system in which the healthy cells would no longer express that target.

If those modified cells manage to establish themselves successfully, the next step is particularly promising: using CD33-targeted therapies to attack the cancer cells while sparing the new blood cells.

The important thing is that This has already affected humans. The clinical trial included 30 patients and showed that the edited cells could be transplanted and produce blood cells without CD33. It is an initial demonstration that the strategy is biologically possible.

That doesn't mean that CRISPR It has not yet been shown to create “cancer-immune” blood, nor is there a new cure. The study is in its early stages, and it remains to be seen to what extent this strategy improves survival and can be safely used on a larger scale.

But this concept challenges the traditional approach to treatment: Instead of simply looking for a way to attack cancer without harming healthy cells, scientists are trying to first modify the healthy cells so that they can withstand a much more precise attack on the tumor.

And that difference could usher in a new era in the fight against some of the most difficult-to-treat blood cancers.