Unmet Needs With Car T Therapy in Multiple Myeloma: Nina Shah, MD

This content originally appeared on our sister site, OncLive.

OncLive spoke with Nina Shah, MD, hematologist/oncologist and associate professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, about unmet needs with CAR T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma.

Shah discussed how CAR T-cell therapy has not quite managed to cure patients with multiple myeloma and no plateau has been seen on the survival curves, although the therapies have been a welcome addition to the treatment landscape. Innovative ways to prolong the efficacy of CAR T-cell therapy are being investigated, Shah said.

Unique culturing techniques, such as those utilized with the investigational bb21217 product, are being evaluated. Additionally, engineering techniques aimed at increasing the T-stem cell–like memory phenotype are being studied with the P-BCMA-101 product. Finally, allogenic CAR T-cell therapies, such as those being developed by Allogene Therapeutics, have the potential to increase accessibility to CAR T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma, Shah explained.

Ultimately, refining the culturing, engineering, and manufacturing process of CAR T-cell therapy may improve the success of this therapeutic modality and provide prolonged responses to patients with multiple myeloma, Shah concluded.