Choi’s next generation CAR-T therapy, funded in part by SAA-Boston and SAA-Nantucket, has shown “dramatic and rapid” regression of glioblastoma

With early funding from Swim Across America – Boston and Swim Across America – Nantucket, Dr. Bryan Choi’s research on tandem CAR T-cell therapy for ependymoma was approved for a Phase I trial. The first human patient was infused at the end of April 2023. The results of the first human trials, as described in 2024 by the New England Journal of Medicine, showed “dramatic and rapid” regression of glioblastoma.

In an exclusive briefing to Swim Across America participants, Dr. Bryan Choi, a neurosurgeon and neuro-oncologist at Massachusetts General Cancer Center, delivered an update on his research path.

The Swim Across America lab visit included not only highlights from on the ongoing Phase I trial, but also a few first-hand stories about the life-changing impacts of the new CAR-T cell therapy for one of the patients, who has chosen to share his story publicly.

Tom Fraser (Patient #2) has shared his story publicly with news outlets that include CNN and New York Magazine.

CAR T-cell therapy, a type of gene therapy that engineers a patient’s own T-cells (a type of white blood cells) to identify and attack cancer cells by way of their antigen markers, has shown promise in the treatment of blood cancers. The research team created dual antigen-targeting tandem CAR T (TanCART) cells to target heterogeneous solid tumors. Dr. Choi’s research shows that this type of therapy can also be manipulated to treat solid tumors like ependymoma.

At the suggestion of Dr. Howard Weinstein, Unit Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Mass General for Children and long-time Swim Across America partner, Dr. Choi applied for a Swim Across America research grant through the internal competitive bid program at Mass General for Children. 

Without the Swim Across America grant, Dr. Choi said, his research likely would have remained unfunded, and neither the FDA approval nor the Phase I Study approval, which is funded by industry investors, would have been possible.

Janel Jorgensen McArdle, Chief Operating Officer of Swim Across America, pointed out that Dr. Choi’s research falls in the “sweet spot” of the high risk, high reward research that Swim Across America is pursuing.

“This promising research aligned perfectly with the opportunities that Swim Across America seeks to support,” said McArdle. “We are so excited that SAA funding could help accelerate it to patient trials – and are thrilled to see the benefits to patients!”

After his highly informative presentation, Dr. Choi gave the Swim Across America group a private tour of his lab spaces, which were in the finishing stages of build-out when they toured two years ago. 

The group also got to visit the Ether Dome at Mass General, the surgical amphitheater where, in 1846, the first public surgery with anesthesia was performed.

It was an exciting visit for Swim Across America news and for all of the Swim Across America – Boston and Nantucket supporters who were present!