# A Phase 1 Study to Evaluate Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells Targeting TAG72 in Patients with Recurrent Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

> **NIH NIH R01** · BECKMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE/CITY OF HOPE · 2022 · $723,036

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have a poor prognosis with a post-relapse median
survival of approximately 30 months and limited therapeutic options, thus presenting a fundamental unmet
medical need. Progress in immunotherapy across a broad range of tumor types provides hope that
immunological approaches may improve outcomes for patients with EOC. Particularly, a type of immunotherapy
called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy retrains the immune system to target cancers by
recognizing specific cancer markers. EOC presents several challenges to effective CAR T cell immunotherapy,
including poor tumor site infiltration, activation, inadequate function and persistence of these T cells within the
harsh peritoneal tumor microenvironment. Additionally, there are a lack of effective CAR T cell targets on the
surface of advanced EOC tumor cells. Our goal is to develop effective therapies against metastatic EOC, with a
specific focus on regional delivery of CAR T cell therapies to treat peritoneal metastasis. TAG72 is highly over-
expressed in EOC and other solid tumors with little or no expression in normal tissues, making it an ideal target
for CAR T cell therapy. Our team at City of Hope has developed and completed laboratory testing of a TAG72-
targeting CAR T cell therapy. Our preclinical data also supports superior anti-tumor activity when TAG72 CAR T
cells are administered regionally by intraperitoneal delivery versus systemically by intravenous delivery, likely
due to direct and immediate antigen CAR T cell access to tumor cells. The hypothesis is that regionally-
administered TAG72-CAR T cells will be safe and mediate anti-tumor effects, which will be assessed in the
following specific aims: 1) Evaluate safety and feasibility of regional intraperitoneal delivery of TAG72-CAR T
cells in patients with advanced EOC in a phase 1 clinical trial; 2) Assess CAR T cell-mediated immune landscape
changes that may indicate therapeutic response or resistance; and 3) investigate pathways of tumor resistance
and CAR T cell-induced tumor evolution. Our program has incorporated an innovative use of pre-conditioning
regimens to our solid tumor CAR T cell therapies, regional routes of CAR T cell administration, and a fully-
optimized TAG72-CAR construct. These features aim to improve the potency and selectivity of targeting TAG72+
tumors while potentially minimizing immune responses that limit persistence and/or function of TAG72-CAR T
cells. This approach is significant in that it will expand our therapeutic portfolio for EOC and other solid tumors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10523013
- **Project number:** 1R01CA266874-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** BECKMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE/CITY OF HOPE
- **Principal Investigator:** Saul Priceman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $723,036
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10523013

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10523013, A Phase 1 Study to Evaluate Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells Targeting TAG72 in Patients with Recurrent Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (1R01CA266874-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10523013. Licensed CC0.

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