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CARs in the Lead Against Multiple Myeloma

Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports volume 12, pages 119–125 (2017)Cite this article

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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Fig. 1

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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Affiliations

  1. Cellular Immunotherapy Program, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 149 13th Street, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA

    Maria Ormhøj, Felipe Bedoya, Matthew J. Frigault & Marcela V. Maus

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Maria Ormhøj, Felipe Bedoya, Matthew J. Frigault & Marcela V. Maus

  3. Department of Clinical Immunology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Maria Ormhøj

  4. University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Maria Ormhøj

Authors
  1. Maria Ormhøj
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  2. Felipe Bedoya
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  3. Matthew J. Frigault
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  4. Marcela V. Maus
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Corresponding author

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.

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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

Keywords

  • Chimeric antigen receptor
  • Multiple myeloma
  • B cell maturation antigen
  • Adoptive T cell therapy
  • Clinical trials