Career Enhancement Program

The studies proposed herein are designed to test the feasibility, safety, and preliminary efficacy of a novel IL-13Ra2/IL-12/DR-18 CAR-T cell therapy for glioblastoma, as well as investigate response biomarkers and mechanisms of immune evasion following the injection of these CAR-T cells intratumorally and intraventricularly. We will test our hypothesis that clinically relevant CAR-T cell therapy for glioblastoma (GBM) must have two components: 1) tumor specific glioblastoma cell targeting; and 2) blockade of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). We believe that our novel IL-13Ra2/IL-12/DR-18 CAR-T cell therapy that simultaneously targets both glioblastoma cells and the immunosuppressive TME may lead to improved outcomes for the treatment of glioblastoma.