MAGE-C2 TCR T Cell Trial to Treat Melanoma and Head and Neck Cancer

In this patient study, the investigators target the Cancer Germline Antigen (CGA) MAGE-C2 (MC2), and use T cells with a young phenotype. MC2 is highly expressed in melanoma (MEL) and head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSSC), but not in healthy adult tissues. The investigators isolated MC2-specific TCRs from MEL patients who showed clinical responses following vaccination that were accompanied by significant frequencies of anti-MC2 CD8 T cells in blood and tumor without apparent side effects. Following extensive evaluation of in vitro anti-tumor and self-reactivities, the investigators have selected a TCR that recognizes the ALK epitope in the context of HLA-A2 for clinical development. Furthermore, preclinical studies showed that epigenetic pretreatment of tumor cells, but not normal cells, up-regulated MC2 gene expression and resulted in enhanced recognition of MC2 by the selected TCR. In parallel to the above studies, the investigators renewed their GMP protocol to process T cells, using stimulating antibodies and cytokines, to generate T cells with a young phenotype. In the current phase I/II study, the investigators explore the safety and anti-tumor efficacy of T cells engineered with the selected TCR in patients with MC2-positive MEL and HNSSC. The study contains the following unique elements: * CGA not targeted before by T cell therapy * New T cell processing method to generate young T cells * Pretreatment of patients with epigenetic drugs * No chemotherapy prior to T cell infusion Leads: * Clinical PI: Astrid van der Veldt, MD, PhD * Clinical logistics: Karlijn de Joode, MD * T cell production: Monique de Beijer, PhD; and Cor Lamers, PhD * Coordinator/Preclinical PI: prof. Reno Debets, PhD