For thousands of patients battling blood cancers like lymphoma or leukemia, CAR-T cell therapy feels like a finish line. Doctors harvest a patient’s own immune cells, genetically engineer them to hunt cancer, and return them to the body to run them down. But for more than 60% of patients, the race doesn’t go as planned. The engineered cells act like sprinters that run out of gas, allowing the cancer to relapse. And the race goes back to the starting line.
Researchers at the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) and Fred Hutch Cancer Center recently published a study that may have found the “marathon runner” of immune cells. By “racing” 20 different genetic designs against each other inside a single living model, they identified a specific design called MyD88-CD40 that has the stamina to stay in the fight long after standard treatments quit.
If you or a loved one ever faced a cancer diagnosis, the biggest fear is a relapse. This research directly addresses that fear. This new MyD88-CD40 cell design doesn’t just kill cancer; it persists. In the study, these marathon runner cells were still going strong 100 days after treatment, whereas traditional designs disappeared after just 28 days.
Even more impressive is the cells’ “vision.” Dr. Christopher Peterson, the study’s co-author, notes that these cells can find and kill cancer even when the targets are “hard to see,” meaning they can catch the tiny, hidden amounts of cancer that usually lead to a relapse.
This breakthrough almost ended up in a laboratory trash can. When the team tested these cells via New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in a lab dish, the MyD88-CD40 design actually looked like a failure. It didn’t multiply well, and researchers might have moved on to other, less effective designs.
However, when tested in the primate model at WaNPRC, the cells “woke up.” They dominated the competition, outperforming every other design.
“The WaNPRC primate model was critical in two regards,” said Dr. Peterson. “First, it tells us that we still need to validate our cell therapies in animal models, specifically macaques. This study would not have been feasible in mice or other small animal models.”
The second reason is even more fascinating. Because the scientists saw how well the cells worked in the macaques, they went back to look at their lab dishes to see what they missed. They discovered the cells were secreting 100 times more IL-13, a molecule usually linked to allergies, not cancer.
“IL-13 is an inflammatory molecule usually associated with allergies. It’s not one that we’re used to seeing with CAR T-cells,” Dr. Peterson explained. “This points us towards NAMs experiments where we adjust our ex vivo culture parameters to more broadly support CAR T-cells that operate in distinct ways.”
In short, the monkeys taught the scientists how to build better lab tests for the future.
While these “marathon” cells are incredibly powerful, they are also aggressive. One animal in the study experienced a “cytokine storm,” a dangerous immune overreaction. Dr. Peterson says the next step is learning how to control this power:
“I believe that this brings us closer to managing relapsed B-cell malignancies,” he said. “But it also highlights our ongoing goal to ‘manage the managers,’ i.e. the CAR T-cells. We need to manage this response so that it doesn’t spin out of control. This is an especially valuable aspect of our pigtail model, dialing up the potency of our therapy while also minimizing side effects.”
The implications of this “long-distance runner” cell go far beyond cancer. Dr. Peterson is also a lead researcher in the hunt for an HIV cure. He believes that because these cells can find “hard to see” targets and stay in the body for so long, they might be the key to hunting down the hidden virus that currently defies all medication.
“I am convinced that gene, antibody, and cellular immunotherapies will be part of the ‘secret sauce’ that eventually leads us to an HIV cure,” says Dr. Peterson. “The virus hides in our host genome… we predict that these host ‘flags’ will provide a more efficient means to target and clear the HIV reservoir using antibodies, CAR T-cells, and/or other immunotherapies.”
You can read the study here.
“Our goal was always to help local people build their own capacity to manage their environment and health,” he said. “These programs were never about us showing up to teach and then leaving. They were about partnership and long-term collaboration.”
The field courses, which combine research, cross-cultural exchange, and a dose of physical endurance, are intentionally small, he said. “We’re often in remote, challenging places. You learn to improvise, listen, and collaborate,” he said. “It’s not just about training and data collection. It’s about experiencing the world first hand, while appreciating the similarities across all cultures.”
Researchers from the Washington National Primate Research Center 
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The NIH and FDA efforts to shift away from animal testing, promoting “new approach methodologies” (NAMs) like AI, organoids, and organ-on-a-chip systems are not finding unanimous support in the scientific community. The goal is to improve research efficiency, lower costs, and reduce harm to animals. While some scientists support the move as overdue, others warn that NAMs can’t yet replace animal models in many areas, like cancer and radiation research. Experts are also concerned about the speed of implementation and the risk of compromising scientific rigor. The shift comes amid broader federal cuts to basic science funding, raising doubts about how far these changes can be effectively realized.