Seattle Children's Research Institute has announced the opening of its Center for Childhood Cancer Research.
The center, led by director Dr. Michael Jensen, will focus on developing new therapies and testing them in clinical trials for children with the most aggressive forms of cancer, according to the institute. Jensen and colleagues will focus their work on harnessing the therapeutic potential of the immune system, specifically working on reprogramming the body's infection-fighting T cells to seek out and destroy cancer cells.
The center's long-term mission is to replace cancer therapies such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy with new "smart" therapies that target only the cancer, according to the institute. It anticipates starting phase I clinical trials by 2013, applying T-cell therapy to relapsed cancers, including leukemia, brain tumors, and neuroblastoma.
