Novel VST Therapy Linked to Improved Outcomes in Pediatric Patients

Intravenous therapies developed from virus-specific T-cells (VST) may offer new and effective treatments for pediatric patients who are immunocompromised, according to the results of a new study led by researchers from Children’s National Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute. The study results, published recently in Nature Communications, demonstrated that the novel VST therapies were “feasible and efficacious” and were associated with better overall outcomes than current standards of care.

To develop the novel VST therapies, researchers used blood from healthy donors to create a specialized therapy designed to prompt immune responses in patients who are otherwise immunocompromised. The researchers demonstrated that after receiving intravenous VST therapy, patients’ immune systems were successfully able to fight off various viruses, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr and adenovirus. The researchers estimated that without VST therapy, fewer than 20% of the patients would have recovered from these viral infections.

The researchers noted that VST therapies remain novel and that this study represents a unique area of research and more data are needed. “Our study suggests that a yet to be fully defined minimal level of immune reconstitution and the potential for stimulation of recovering marrow may be important to the success of VST therapy,” the researchers wrote. “Future studies may elucidate additional risk factors for adverse events, and genetically modified VSTs may enable treatment in the presence of immunosuppressive therapies, thus enabling earlier and more efficacious antiviral therapy.”