Home | News | June and Sadelain, the pioneers of CAR-T cell immunotherapy, receive the Frontiers of Knowledge Award

From left: Fernando Peláez, Raúl Rabadán, Carl June, Michel Sadelain, Manel Juan, Antonio Pérez-Mártínez and Luis Álvarez-Vallina, at the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ceremony in Bilbao. / CNIO

Carl June and Michel Sadelain, the pioneers of cell-based immunotherapies, are the winners of the 18th edition of the Fundación BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine. Both immunologists were nominated by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) through a candidacy supported by its clinical researchers, who not only use immunotherapy in the treatment of their patients but also conduct research aimed at improving it.

“June and Sadelain’s contribution has brought about a genuine paradigm shift in modern medicine thanks to the development of CAR‑T-cell immunotherapy,” note the nominators Luis Álvarez-Vallina, Antonio Pérez-Martínez,Luis Paz-Ares and Joaquín Martínez, heads respectively of the following clinical research units: CNIO-HMarBCN Cancer Immunotherapy; IdiPAZ-CNIO Paediatric Oncohaematology; H12O-CNIO Lung Cancer; and H12O-CNIO Haematological Tumours.

June and Sadelain’s work “has profoundly transformed the fields of oncology and immunology, to the extent that they are regarded as the ‘founding fathers’ of the first living medicine in the history of medicine,” they add.

In CAR-T cell immunotherapy, the patient’s T lymphocytes (white blood cells) are modified to enable them to specifically recognise and destroy tumour cells. T-lymphocytes are first extracted from the patient, modified and cultured in the laboratory, and then reintroduced into the body, where they are then able to target cancer cells.  

“CAR‑T cells act as living drugs: they are the patient’s own cells which, after being genetically modified to give them the ability to specifically recognise and destroy tumour cells, can remain active in the body for years.” (…) “CAR‑T cells only attack the target cells and spare healthy tissue,” say the nominators from CNIO.

In their acceptance speeches, Sadelain and June explained the origins of these immunotherapies, which date back four decades. Their development has been a long process: the first CAR-T therapies entered clinical use around a decade ago, and have proved effective, particularly against haematological tumours.

Research at CNIO to enable more patients to benefit from CAR-T therapy

The challenge remains to extend the effectiveness of this approach to other tumours and to reduce its high costs. The research conducted by Álvarez-Vallina at the CNIO-HMarBCN Cancer Immunotherapy Unit is exploring a new strategy against multiple myeloma by modifying T-lymphocytes within the patient’s own body, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and reducing treatment time.

At the CNIO paediatric cancer unit, headed up by Antonio Pérez, research is being carried out to ensure that children and teenagers with cancer are not excluded from these immunotherapies. They are investigating why around half of paediatric patients treated with CAR-T therapy do not respond, and aim to develop ‘universal donor’ CAR-T cells that do not trigger a rejection response, for cases where it is not possible to modify the patient’s own cells. They are also seeking to extend the effectiveness of CAR-T therapy to solid tumours.

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