E-Mail IMAGE: Matthew Foster, MD, and his UNC Lineberger colleagues have used an experimental safety switch incorporated as part of a chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell therapy (CAR-T) for an aggressive form... view more Credit: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina--UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have successfully used an experimental safety switch, incorporated as part of a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, a type of immunotherapy, to reduce the severity of treatment side effects that sometimes occur. This advance was seen in a patient enrolled in a clinical trial using CAR-T to treat refractory acute B-cell leukemia. It demonstrates a proof-of-principle for possible expanded use of CAR-T immunotherapy paired with the safety switch.