Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, May 21: In a breakthrough finding, researchers have revealed that age-related immune decline can significantly impair the effectiveness of CAR-T cell therapy an advanced form of cancer immunotherapy raising concerns about its efficacy in older cancer patients.

A collaborative study led by Swiss institutions including the University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), and EPFL, showed that CAR-T cells derived from aged mice exhibited diminished mitochondrial function, lower "stemness," and weakened antitumour activity.

The culprit, scientists say, is a drop in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) a molecule vital for cellular energy and mitochondrial metabolism.

"CAR-T cells from older individuals are metabolically impaired and significantly less effective," said Dr. Helen Carrasco Hope, lead author of the study. "What’s exciting is that we were able to rejuvenate these aged cells by restoring their NAD levels reviving their antitumour function in preclinical models."

CAR-T cell therapy involves engineering a patient’s T cells to recognise and kill cancer cells. While revolutionary, its performance in older patients has been uncertain due to age-related immune deterioration.

Dr. Hope emphasized the broader implication of the findings, stating, “Our findings strengthen the growing recognition that ageing fundamentally reshapes immune cell function and metabolism. They highlight the urgent need to model age more accurately in preclinical studies so that therapies are developed with the real-world cancer population in mind where most patients are older adults.”

The study underscores the need for age-conscious approaches in designing and testing immunotherapies to ensure they benefit the majority of cancer patients, many of whom are elderly.