The world’s first clinical trial of a type of cancer immunotherapy is taking place at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC– James). Immunotherapy can be less toxic than chemotherapy and gives the patient’s immune system an opportunity to recover during the treatment process. In addition, immune cells can “remember” cancer cells and kill them if they recur, so immunotherapy tends to have a more lasting effect on cancer than other treatment options.
Developed by Margaret Gatti-Mays, MD, MPH, with the partnership of Dean Lee, MD, PhD, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the trial is testing an out-of-the-box immuno-oncology treatment that uses naturally occurring immune cells called natural killer (NK) cells, collected from healthy donors.
NK cells quickly attack foreign cells, such as viruses or cancer. However, cancer cells can express a molecule to protect themselves. Dr. Gatti-Mays worked with Dr. Lee, who found a way to make NK cells resistant to this defensive molecule, preserving their ability to attack cancer.
Since cancer cells multiply too quickly for a patient to develop their own supercharged NK cells as needed, Dr. Gatti-Mays and Dr. Lee, with the help of the Cell Therapy Lab at Ohio State, created a large bank of ready-to-use cells.
During the treatment, an infusion of powerful NK cells is combined with chemotherapy and an antibody, naxitimab. Dr. Gatti-Mays and Dr. Lee hope this multi-front approach will be more effective than other therapies alone for patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Approximately 20% of patients respond to immunotherapy; Dr. Gatti-Mays and Dr. Lee think new treatment protocols, including the one they developed, will improve this.
When Dr. Gatti-Mays became an oncologist, chemotherapy was the principal treatment for breast cancer. That changed soon after she graduated from medical school, when a game-changing drug called ipilimumab was approved as the first immunotherapy treatment in melanoma.
This marked a radical shift in cancer research and treatment. Doctors could begin to imagine one day curing even stage 4 cancer. “The shift to treating some cancers like a chronic disease really came with immunotherapy,” she says.
Today, only 13 years later, Dr. Gatti-Mays has lengthy discussions with patients diagnosed with breast cancer because there are so many treatment options, including immunotherapy combinations. “I find a lot of hope when I reflect back because so much has changed in such a short time,” she says.
This expansion of the treatment landscape has been fueled by philanthropy and the combined efforts of millions of people. Dr. Gatti-Maysʼ work was supported by a Stefanie Spielman Pilot Research Grant and a Pelotonia Idea Grant in 2023.
Dr. Gatti-Mays was recruited to the Pelotonia Institute for Immunooncology and the Division of Medical Oncology in 2019 after a campus visit convinced her that joining the institute would be “a uniquely incredible opportunity for impact on cancer research and care,” she says.
When Dr. Gatti-Mays initially applied to medical schools, she was rejected dozens of times. Some schools cited her lack of research experience in their responses. So, she earned a master’s degree in epidemiology along with a strong foundation in research and then successfully reapplied. This experience led Dr. Gatti-Mays to discover her passion for clinical research while teaching her tenacity along the way.
Today, as a physician-scientist in medical oncology, Dr. Gatti-Mays says, “It was incredibly important that I didn’t get into medical school that first time around because I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing today, and I don’t think I’d be as happy as I am.”
She says her clinical practice and her research inspire each other.
If you’re lucky, says Dr. Gatti-Mays, the science can directly correlate to giving patients more time with their families. “It’s these shared life moments that make my chosen career as a physician-scientist rewarding. It’s an incredible time to be in oncology because there’s been so much progress and so much hope,” she says.
The patients Dr. Gatti-Mays treats in her clinic drive her to keep pushing the science. “When you have a person in front of you, and you know their family, friends and their story, there’s no better motivator to push through and do the things that are outside the box,” she says.