Empire State Riders Ignite Cancer Breakthroughs

This early-phase clinical trial is testing a new form of cell therapy for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, which has no cure and minimal treatment options. Researchers will use a patient’s own immune cells, genetically modified in a lab to recognize and attack cancer. These cells will also be able to release IL-18, a molecule that boosts the immune response, to make treatment more powerful and longer-lasting.
Patients will receive therapy through a standard IV infusion and a second infusion in the abdomen to reach cancer that has spread in the belly and maximize the T cells’ ability to find and destroy tumors. Researchers hope to determine the safest dose, understand how the treatment behaves in the body, monitor how the tumor responds and learn how and why the therapy may or may not work in each patient.