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CARs in the Lead Against Multiple Myeloma

  • Multiple Myeloma (P Kapoor, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The recent clinical success of CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in chronic and acute leukemia has led to increased interest in broadening this technology to other hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Now, advances are being made using CAR T cell technology to target myeloma antigens such as B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), CD138, and kappa-light chain as well as CD19 on putative myeloma stem cells. To date, only a limited number of multiple myeloma patients have received CAR T cell therapy but preliminary results have been encouraging. In this review, we summarize the recently reported results of clinical trials conducted utilizing CAR T cell therapy in multiple myeloma (MM).

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Abbreviations

MM:

Multiple myeloma

ASCT:

Autologous stem cell transplant

CAR:

Chimeric antigen receptor

r/r:

Relapsed/refractory

CLL:

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

ALL:

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia

scFv:

Single-chain variable fragment

CRS:

Cytokine release syndrome

IL-6R:

IL-6 receptor

iCAR:

Inhibitory CAR

PRES:

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

BCMA:

B cell maturation antigen

Ig:

Immunoglobulin

ASH:

American Society of Hematology

VGPR:

Very good partial response

PR:

Partial response

PD:

Progressive disease

SD:

Stable disease

CR:

Complete response

NHL:

Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma

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Correspondence to Marcela V. Maus.

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Conflict of Interest

Maria Ormhøj declares no potential conflicts of interest.

Felipe Bedoya reports a patent pending.

Matthew J. Frigault reports a patent issued and royalties received for compositions and methods for generating a persisting population of T cells useful for the treatment of cancer.

Marcela V. Maus reports a patent pending with some licensed to Novartis for a portfolio relevant to the use of CAR T cells in general, and to multiple myeloma specifically, including CD19.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Multiple Myeloma

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Ormhøj, M., Bedoya, F., Frigault, M.J. et al. CARs in the Lead Against Multiple Myeloma. Curr Hematol Malig Rep 12, 119–125 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-017-0373-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-017-0373-2

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