New immune-cell therapy helps combat synovial sarcoma

A patient with synovial sarcoma, a soft-tissue cancer that usually occurs in the large joints of the arms and legs, is the first in Arizona to be treated with a new immune-cell therapy known as TECELRA at the HonorHealth Research Institute.

Justin Moser, M.D., Medical Oncologist at HonorHealth Research Institute, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the breakthrough research on synovial sarcoma.

Dr. Moser explained this new cell therapy targets a protein associated with the MAGEA4 gene, which is commonly expressed in synovial sarcoma and often occurs in the extremities, such as in the knees, though it can occur almost anywhere in the body.

This new drug is the first and only one-time treatment for advanced synovial sarcoma that enhances parts of the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells, according to Dr. Moser. Known as a genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy, it is made from the patient’s own white blood cells.

“Synovial sarcoma is a type of sarcoma which is the category of cancers that come from the kind of bone, muscles and connective tissues,” Dr. Moser said. “It’s a devastating type of sarcoma because it predominantly affects young, healthy kids.”

Typically the median age for this type of cancer is between 15 and 40 years old, and while chemotherapy can be effective, Dr. Moser explained it extends the patient’s life only one to two years. Dr. Moser added it affects nearly 800 to 1,000 people per year in the U.S.

“This is the first engineered cell therapy ever proved for solid tumors,” Dr. Moser said, “So cancers that kind of arise from solid organs and not the blood.”

This is the first time the HonorHealth Research Institute have received FDA approval and an effective treatment in solid cancers.

“They take the immune cells out of your blood, and then genetically engineer them to recognize and attack a certain protein expressed on a certain blood type,” Dr. Moser said, “We only give this therapy to patients who we know their cancer expresses that blood type and this protein.”

Dr. Moser explained they have already treated their first patient with this new type of therapy.

“Of the patients with synovial sarcoma, it’s estimated that maybe 25 to 40% of patients with this cancer would actually be eligible for the therapy,” Dr. Moser said.