Turk J Haematol. 2018 Sep 6. doi: 10.4274/tjh.2018.0196. [Epub ahead of print]

CAR-T cell therapy, a door is open to find innumerable possibilities of treatments for cancer patients.

Perez-Amill L¹, Marzal B², Urbano-Ispizua A^1,3, Juan M², Martín-Antonio B^1,3.

Abstract

Seven years ago a chronic lymphocytic leukemia patient was by first time successfully treated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells (CART cells) to target CD19 over-expressed in tumor cells. This was the beginning of the development for a new type of immunotherapy treatment in cancer patients. Since then, identification of novel antigens expressed in the tumor cell, and optimization of both CARs constructs and protocols of administration have opened up new avenues to be able to treat successfully other hematological malignancies. However, research still continues to avoid some problems such as toxicities associated to the treatment and strategies to avoid tumor cell immune evasion mechanisms. On the other hand, for solid tumors, CART therapy results are still in an early phase. In contrast to hematological malignancies, the complex tumor heterogeneity of solid tumors has led to the research of novel and tricky strategies to improve the CART cell activity. Here, we will review the main clinical results obtained with CART cells in hematological malignancies, specifically focusing on CART-19 and CART against B cell maturation antigen (CART-BCMA). Moreover, we will mention the main problems which decrease the CART cell activity in solid tumors and strategies to overcome them. Last, we will present some of the first clinical results obtained for solid tumors.