Ketogenic Diet May Enhance CAR T Cell Therapy Efficacy

A simple dietary supplement may provide a new, cost-effective approach to boost CAR T cell function, according to early findings shared this weekend in the Plenary Scientific Session at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. “Our study showed that the ketogenic diet enhanced the anti-tumor function of CAR T cells through [the metabolite] BHB,” lead author Shan Liu, PhD, said in a press briefing. “These results are exciting because they suggest a simple, safe, and scalable strategy to enhance CAR T cell therapy through diet.” Liu, a postdoctoral fellow, co-led the study with medical student Puneeth Guruprasad, PhD, under the mentorship of co-senior authors Marco Ruella, MD, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology, and Maayan Levy, PhD, an assistant professor of Microbiology.