Prof. Kang Chang-yuil's Team Finds Immuno-Treatment for Cancer

Prof. Kang Chang-yuil's research team (college of pharmacy) say they have developed a new way of treating cancer by using immune cells. Kang Chang-yuil, a professor of pharmacology at Seoul National University and head of the team said it succeeded in developing a vaccine technology for cancer which uses B cells, a type of immune cells found in the blood. If this new treatment is perfected, it could reduce the cost and time of cancer treatment to less than 1/10 of conventional treatments, the team said. Anti-tumor vaccine technology is a new approach to treating cancer that artificially manipulates immune cells from the human body to attack cancer cells.
Currently, dendritic cells are used for the treatment. Dendritic cells are good at attacking cancer cells but are difficult to find in the human body and hard to multiply. The new technology developed by Kang’s team uses B cells, which can be easily taken from the blood. B cells have been known not to recognize cancer cells as the enemy, but the team succeeded in manipulating them to attack cancer cells by injecting T cell receptors, which are good at targeting cancer cells, into them.

Tests have shown that when the vaccine was administered to mice, two kinds of cancer including breast cancer were cured in two or three weeks, the team said. The results are published in the latest issue of Cancer Research journal. The team will conduct tests on Primates and start clinical tests in two or three years.

July 4, 2006

Professor Kang Chang-yuil, Department of Pharmacy

T. 82-2-880-7860, Email. cykang@snu.ac.kr

Profile:
1977 B.Sc. in Pharmaceutics Seoul National University

1981 M.S. in Pharmacy/Microbiology Seoul National University
Dissertation: Studies on antineoplastic components of Korean fungi
Advisor: Dr. Byong Kak Kim

1987 Ph.D. in Immunology, School of Medicine State University of New York at Buffalo
Dissertation: Anti-immunoglobulin auto-antibodies, Immunological and molecular properties
Advisor: Dr. Heinz Kohler

Present Position: Associate professor College of Pharmacy,
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Membership of Professional Scienties: American Association of Immunolgists

Education and Employment:

1973-1977 Undergraduate student
Department of Pharmaceutics School of Pharmacy, Seoul National University

1977-1981 Graduate student
Major: Microbiology Department of Pharmacy School of Pharmacy, Seoul National University

1981-1982 Department Assistant
Department of Pharmaceutics School of Pharmacy, Seoul National University

1982-1987 Graduate student
Major: Immunology Department of Microbiology School of Medicine,
State University of New York at Buffalo

1983-1986 Research Affiliate
Department of Molecular Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York

1986-1987 Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Molecular Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York

1987-1989 Scientist I
IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation, La Jolla, California

1989-1992 Scientist II
IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation, La Jolla, California

1992-1994 Scientist III
IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation, La Jolla, California

1994-1998 Assistant professor
College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

1998- 2003 Associate professor
College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

2003- Professor
College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea