Pre-clinical validation of a novel pan-cancer CAR-T cell immunotherapy against nfP2X7

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T immunotherapy is a novel treatment that genetically modifies the patient’s own T cells to target and kill malignant cells. CAR-T cells demonstrated robust clinical activity against certain B-cell malignancies. However, identification of tumour-specific antigens expressed on multiple cancer types, especially on solid cancers, remains a major challenge. P2X purinoceptor 7 (P2X7) is an ATP gated cation channel that forms homotrimers and heterotrimers at the cell surface. When functioning normally, it controls ion transport in response to ATP. A dysfunctional version of P2X7, named nfP2X7, has been identified on cancer cells from a range of tissues, while being undetectable on healthy cells. We generated prototype nfP2X7-targeting human CAR-T cells, which demonstrated effective antigen-specific cytotoxicity against twelve solid cancer types including breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, brain and skin in vitro. In preclinical xenograft mouse models of aggressive breast and prostate cancer, CAR-T cells targeting nfP2X7 exhibited robust anti-tumour efficacy. These data indicate CAR-T cells targeting nfP2X7 have potential as a novel broad-spectrum cancer immunotherapy for solid tumours in humans.