On Nov. 12, 2024, researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel announced they had developed an immunotherapy that not only attacks the tumor—it also turns its microenvironment against it.

The CAR T-cells developed by the team have an extra feature aimed at altering the microenvironment. The researchers also give the therapeutic T-cells a blueprint for a molecule. This molecule blocks the signals the tumor uses to hijack the immune cells in its environment for its own purposes. These signals allow the tumor to turn immune cells, or more precisely microglia and macrophages, into traitors to their own body. Instead of attacking the cancer, they prevent the immune system from attacking it.

Once the implanted molecule stops these tumor signals, macrophages and microglia can support the CAR T-cells in their attack on the glioblastoma— even on cancer cells that lack the specific recognized structure.