Massimo Dominici

🚨NEW - Enhanced anti-tumor efficacy through combined CAR T cell therapy and CD40 stimulation in syngeneic solid tumor models @cytotherapy Although CD40 stimulation has previously been investigated as a strategy to strengthen endogenous T-cell responses and cancer vaccines, its combination with CAR T cells has remained largely unexplored, particularly in immunocompetent models. The study shows that CD40 stimulation enhances CAR T-cell expansion, activation, and antitumor activity, leading to more effective and sustained tumor control and improved survival compared with CAR T-cell therapy alone. These effects were demonstrated in two distinct solid tumor models: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and triple-negative breast cancer. In-depth analysis of the tumor microenvironment revealed extensive tumor necrosis and stromal remodeling, an increased proportion of endogenous immune cells, enhanced CAR T-cell activation, and a shift from an immune-excluded, “cold” tumor toward a more immune-inflamed state. Importantly, these profound cellular and structural changes were not fully reflected by tumor volume, highlighting that tumor size alone may underestimate the anti-tumor effect of immunotherapy. These data inform potential strategies and pre-clinical modeling considerations to further optimize treatment for longer-term tumor control. #TCell #CARTCell #immunotherapy #CD40

This study☝️was led by @giugolli mentored by @carlhjune @massdomi John Scholler Gina Young @PennMedicine sciencedirect.com/science/ar…

Great to see @ISCTglobal #celltherapy #GeneTherapy colleagues at an in person conference!

@HealthHitech conference with @ISCTglobal #celltherapy #genetherapy colleagues @DrQasimRafiq & @massdomi