Emerging CAR T-Cell Therapies in Hematologic Cancers

Xiuli Wang, PhD, research professor, Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses emerging CAR T-cell therapy in hematologic cancers.

Currently available CAR T-cell therapies, although very promising for blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, has many challenges, explains Wang. Not all patients respond to CAR T-cell therapy; others might respond but relapse soon after. The reason for these challenges, according to Wang, is that there are not enough CAR T cells in patients.

These newer CAR T cells, which Wang is studying at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, allow physicians to expand CAR T cells in patients by using cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccines. With this new technology, these CAR molecules are introduced into the CMV-specific T cells, allowing the resulting T cells to have 2 specificities; they can recognize tumor and CMV antigens, concludes Wang.