Cancer immunotherapy with genetically modified T cells. With several breakthroughs in basic immunological research, we are on the verge of a new generation of cancer therapies. There is now potential to develop immunotherapy based on well-defined molecules expressed on cancer cells and on the immunologically active white blood cells. Recent results show that immunotherapy can have a clinical impact, prolonging life and activating the immune system in a proportion of patients with severe cancer. However, methods need to be improved as only a proportion of patients respond to these treatments. Therefore, the aim of the research is to transfer the knowledge of modern immunology into clinically useful treatments for cancer, in close collaboration between researchers at Cancer Center Karolinska, doctors at Radiumhemmet and other research groups in the EU. A current series of experiments is testing whether white blood cells, known as lymphocytes, can be altered by modern genetic methods and thus manipulated to fight the patient's cancer cells. The method has already shown promising but preliminary results in the treatment of malignant melanoma, and it will be investigated whether it also works in patients with other types of cancerous tumors. The studies are carried out in collaboration with several other European laboratories.