Nirav N. Shah, MD, on Unmet Needs With CAR T-Cell Therapies in Hematologic Malignancies

This content originally appeared on our sister site, OncLive.

OncLive spoke with Nirav N. Shah, MD, associate professor, the Medical College of Wisconsin, to learn more about remaining unmet needs with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, and how to ameliorate these challenges for patients with hematologic malignancies.

Shah discussed how advancements in CAR T-cell therapy have led to effective and paradigm-shifting strategies for treating patients with B-cell malignancies, but improvements are needed of treatment development and delivery, as well as improved toxicity management for patients with these agents.

Shah also touched on how CAR T-cell therapy can be associated with several adverse effects (AEs), with long-term effects incluing low B-cell counts or the inability to produce antibodies following treatment. Additionally, short-term AEs include cytokine release syndrome and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome. Lastly, CAR T-cell therapy invokes logistical challenges, such as the cost of manufacturing and long wait-times for patients.