A new early-stage clinical trial found that a novel monoclonal antibody provided dose-dependent full protection against the malaria parasite with minimal side effects.  Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) conducted the trial in healthy volunteers who were exposed, in a controlled manner, to bites, from mosquitos infected with the malaria parasite.

The “tumor-on-a-chip” recreates the body’s tumor environment in miniature, complete with blood vessels and immune cells, so researchers can “see” what helps or hinders engineered immune cells inside solid tumors.

Adding vildagliptin, a drug currently used to treat type 2 diabetes, to the chip, allows many more CAR T cells to break through the protective tumor microenvironment and attack the tumor.

These chips could help accelerate the development of more efficacious and safer immunotherapies for cancer patients while reducing the need for the use of other preclinical models.