March 1, 2017 (The Scientist)
In the 6-month follow-up for a Phase 2 trial focused on 101 advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients who underwent chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, 41 percent experienced shrinkage of their cancer by half or more and of these patients, 36 percent appeared cancer free. The results prompted words like “extraordinary” and “extremely encouraging” from cancer researchers – since the patients that presented disease-free had stopped responding to all previous treatments.
Kite Pharma, Inc., which sponsored this study, responded to the positive trial results by filing a marketing application for its CAR-T therapy with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As of June 2017, the application remains under review.
CAR-T therapy essentially rewires a patient’s immune system T-cells to seek and destroy cancer cells. The technology involves drawing a patient’s blood, isolating the T-cells, and adding the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) gene to produce CAR-T cells. These altered cells are harvested in the laboratory prior to infusing the blood back into the patient. Once in the patient, CAR-T cells bind to a protein on the cancer cells’ surface and destroy the cell.
Due to hopeful study results, such as trials conducted by Kite, Juno Therapeutics, and Novartis, CAR-T therapy continues to be hotly watched as researchers work to establish safety and efficacy profiles.
Read a deeper review of “Kite’s CAR T-Cell Therapy Success” in The Scientist e-publication.
