Moffitt chosen to be site of cell therapy studies, latest treatment in cancer

Moffitt has been chosen by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute as a research facility for cell therapy.

The world-renowned cancer center in Tampa, Moffitt, is one of five institutions selected and approved facilities to produce cell-baed therapies for scientific research by the National Institute of Health (NIH), and its National Hearth, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Cell-based therapies are treatment in which living cells are injected into a patient. This emerging science could be a game-changer when it comes to treating cancer.

“Until recently, cancer treatment options have been largely limited to radiation and chemotherapy,” says Linda L. Kelley, Ph.D., principal investigator and director of Moffitt’s Cell Therapy Facility. “Immunotherapy represents a paradigm shift in which the person’s own immune system is boosted to specifically target and kill tumor cells.”

The cancer center in Tampa will manufacture human cells, which will be used to help develop clinical trials to evaluate the new therapies safety and effectiveness.

Being one of the chosen centers for this innovative study is considered an honor, and includes infrastructure funding from NHLBI, with an opportunity to receive additional funds as the center completes therapy requests from other institutions across the country.

“The award was competitive,” Kelley states. “Interested centers had to go through a rigorous application process to demonstrate their expertise and capabilities. Moffitt has the appropriate cell therapy facilities, renown investigators performing cutting-edge research in immunotherapy and on-going clinical trials for patients using novel immunotherapies.”

She goes on to say that while up to eight facilities were considered, only five were ultimately chosen. The four other institutions selected are City of Hope, University of Miami, University of Minnesota and Baylor College of Medicine.