Program Overview

Cell-Based Immunotherapy for Cancer and Other Immune Diseases (CHLD0100)

Key Information

• Faculty: Faculty of Population Health Sciences
• Teaching department: UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
• Credit value: 15
• Restrictions: N/A

Alternative Credit Options

There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

Description

Summary

This module covers advanced concepts of cell-based immunotherapies for cancer, from target identification and synthetic biology for cell engineering to their pre-clinical development and clinical translation. Participants will have access to the latest data from chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell studies at GOSH, contextualizing clinical limitations and novel approaches to refine cell-based immunotherapy strategies.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

The module aims to equip students with a critical understanding of cell-based immunotherapies for cancer and other immune disorders. It introduces basic immunology concepts and provides in-depth insights into immune cell engineering. Students will learn about target identification, cell engineering, and clinical applications, enabling them to critically recognize strengths and limitations of presented studies and discuss future directions.

Upon completion, students will:

• Understand the principles of cell-based immunotherapy and novel target identification
• Understand the immune system, immune cell types that can be engineered with CARs, and their physiological functions and distinctive biological features
• Be able to choose the appropriate approach to target identification and selective targeting
• Critically think about the application of synthetic biology approaches to immune-cell engineering
• Have knowledge and understanding of pre-clinical and clinical studies carried out at UCL GOSH/UCLH and other institutions, including current limitations
• Be able to identify novel approaches to overcoming the limitations identified in current clinical trials
• Be able to identify new approaches to reduce toxicity and prevent antigen-negative therapy escape

Teaching and Learning Methods

The module is highly interactive, blending taught lectures and interactive applied case studies, discussion groups, self-taught sessions, tutorials, and practices (e.g., relevant database searches), utilizing virtual reality applications to explore personalized medicine possibilities.

Selected Reading List

1. Maus, M.V., Grupp, S.A., Porter, D.L., & June, C.H. Antibody-modified T cells: CARs take the front seat for hematologic malignancies. Blood 123, (2014).
2. Barrett, D.M., Grupp, S.A., & June, C.H. Chimeric Antigen Receptor- and TCR-Modified T Cells Enter Main Street and Wall Street. J Immunol 195, 755-761 (2015).
3. Kershaw, M.H., Westwood, J.A., & Darcy, P.K. Gene-engineered T cells for cancer therapy. Nat Rev Cancer 13, 525-541 (2013).
4. June, C.H., O'Connor, R.S., Kawalekar, O.U., Ghassemi, S., & Milone, M.C. CAR T cell immunotherapy for human cancer. Science 359, (2018).
5. Labanieh, L., Majzner, R.G., & Mackall, C.L. Programming CAR-T cells to kill cancer. Nat Biomed Eng 2, 377-391 (2018).
6. Fesnak, A.D., June, C.H., & Levine, B.L. Engineered T cells: the promise and challenges of cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Cancer 16, 566-581 (2016).
7. Hunger, S.P., & Mullighan, C.G. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children. N Engl J Med 373, (2015).
8. Majzner, R.G., & Mackall, C.L. Tumor Antigen Escape from CAR T-cell Therapy. Cancer Discov 8, (2018).
9. D'Ippolito, E., Schober, K., Nauerth, M., & Busch, D.H. T cell engineering for adoptive T cell therapy: safety and receptor avidity. Cancer Immunol Immunother 68, (2019).

Module Deliveries for 2026/27 Academic Year

• Intended teaching term: Terms 1 and 2
• Postgraduate (FHEQ Level 7)

Teaching and Assessment

• Mode of study: In person
• Methods of assessment: 100% Coursework
• Mark scheme: Numeric Marks

Other Information

• Number of students on module in previous year: 19
• Module leader: Dr. Alice Giustacchini

Last Updated

This module description was last updated on 10th March 2026.