Engineered immune cells take aim at tough childhood cancers

This early-phase trial tested whether a new type of immune cell therapy (CD22 CAR T cells) could be safely made and given to 10 children and young adults whose B-cell leukemia or lymphoma had come back or stopped responding to treatment. The therapy uses the patient's own immune cells, modified to target a protein called CD22 on cancer cells. The main goals were to see if the cells could be successfully produced and to find a safe dose, while also checking for any cancer-fighting effects.