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A phase 3 trial of BCMA-specific CAR T cells in relapsed and refractory myeloma showed an advantage over standard therapy (progression-free survival, 13.3 vs. 4.4 months); 39% of patients in the ide-cel group had a complete response.

In an analysis of the primary outcome of this phase 3 trial, patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma who received axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, as second-line treatment had significantly longer event-free survival than those who received standard care. Data were needed on longer-term outcomes. In this trial, we randomly assigned patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma in a 1:1 ratio to receive either axi-cel or standard care (two to three cycles of chemoimmunotherapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell transplantation in patients who had a response). The primary outcome was event-free survival, and key secondary outcomes were response and overall survival. Here, we report the results of the prespecified overall survival analysis at 5 years after the first patient underwent randomization. A total of 359 patients underwent randomization to receive axi-cel (180 patients) or standard care (179 patients). At a median follow-up of 47.2 months, death had been reported in 82 patients in the axi-cel group and in 95 patients in the standard-care group. The median overall survival was not reached in the axi-cel group and was 31.1 months in the standard-care group; the estimated 4-year overall survival was 54.6% and 46.0%, respectively (hazard ratio for death, 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54 to 0.98; P = 0.03 by stratified two-sided log-rank test). This increased survival with axi-cel was observed in the intention-to-treat population, which included 74% of patients with primary refractory disease and other high-risk features. The median investigator-assessed progression-free survival was 14.7 months in the axi-cel group and 3.7 months in the standard-care group, with estimated 4-year percentages of 41.8% and 24.4%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.67). No new treatment-related deaths had occurred since the primary analysis of event-free survival. At a median follow-up of 47.2 months, axi-cel as second-line treatment for patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma resulted in significantly longer overall survival than standard care. (Funded by Kite; ZUMA-7 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03391466.).

The remarkable clinical activity of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapies in B cell and plasma cell malignancies has validated the use of this therapeutic class for liquid cancers, but resistance and limited access remain as barriers to broader application. Here we review the immunobiology and design principles of current prototype CARs and present emerging platforms that are anticipated to drive future clinical advances. The field is witnessing a rapid expansion of next-generation CAR immune cell technologies designed to enhance efficacy, safety and access. Substantial progress has been made in augmenting immune cell fitness, activating endogenous immunity, arming cells to resist suppression via the tumour microenvironment and developing approaches to modulate antigen density thresholds. Increasingly sophisticated multispecific, logic-gated and regulatable CARs display the potential to overcome resistance and increase safety. Early signs of progress with stealth, virus-free and in vivo gene delivery platforms provide potential paths for reduced costs and increased access of cell therapies in the future. The continuing clinical success of CAR T cells in liquid cancers is driving the development of increasingly sophisticated immune cell therapies that are poised to translate to treatments for solid cancers and non-malignant diseases in the coming years. This Perspective reviews recent developments in the design and use of chimeric antigen receptors in treatments for cancers and other diseases.

Claudin-18 isoform 2 (CLDN18.2) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target in gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer. Satricabtagene autoleucel (satri-cel; also known as CT041), an autologous CLDN18.2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, showed encouraging activity in previously treated patients with advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer in phase 1 clinical trials. In this Article, we report the primary results from the phase 2 pivotal trial (CT041-ST-01) investigating the efficacy and safety of satri-cel for gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer. In this open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled trial conducted in China, patients with CLDN18.2-positive (immunohistochemistry expression intensity ≥2+ and positive tumour cells ≥40%) advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer, who were refractory to at least two previous lines of treatment, were randomly allocated (2:1) to receive satri-cel or treatment of physician's choice (TPC). In the satri-cel group, satri-cel was infused up to three times at a dose of 250 × 106 cells. For the TPC group, one of the standard-of-care drugs (nivolumab, paclitaxel, docetaxel, irinotecan, or rivoceranib [apatinib]) was given, per the physician's decision. Those who had disease progression or drug intolerance in the TPC group could receive subsequent satri-cel, if eligible. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival, assessed by an independent review committee, in the intention-to-treat population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04581473), and is closed to new patients. Between March 22, 2022, and July 29, 2024, 266 patients were screened, of whom 156 were randomly allocated to the satri-cel group (n=104) or TPC group (n=52). 88 (85%) patients in the satri-cel group and 48 (92%) patients in the TPC group received study drug. In the satri-cel group, 28 (27%) patients had previously received three or more lines of treatment and 72 (69%) patients had peritoneal metastasis. In the TPC group, ten (19%) patients had previously received three or more lines of treatment and 31 (60%) patients had peritoneal metastasis. The median follow-up time for progression-free survival was 9·07 months (95% CI 6·21–13·01) in the satri-cel group and 3·45 months (2·89–not estimable) in the TPC group, based on the reverse Kaplan–Meier method. In the intention-to-treat population, median progression-free survival was 3·25 months (95% CI 2·86–4·53) in the satri-cel group and 1·77 months (1·61–2·04) in the TPC group (hazard ratio 0·37 [95% CI 0·24–0·56]; one-sided log-rank p<0·0001). In the safety analysis set (all patients who received at least one dose of study drug), grade 3 or higher treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 87 (99%) of 88 patients in the satri-cel group and 30 (63%) of 48 patients in the TPC group. The most common grade 3 or worse treatment-emergent adverse events related to treatment were decreased lymphocyte count (86 [98%] of 88 patients), decreased white blood cell count (68 [77%] patients), and decreased neutrophil count (58 [66%] patients) in the satri-cel group. Cytokine release syndrome occurred in 84 (95%) of 88 patients in the satri-cel group. This is the first randomised controlled trial of CAR T-cell therapy in solid tumours globally. Satri-cel treatment resulted in a significant improvement in progression-free survival, with a manageable safety profile. These results support satri-cel as a new third-line treatment for advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer patients. CARsgen Therapeutics.

Outcomes for patients with refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are poor. In the multicenter ZUMA-1 phase 1 study, we evaluated KTE-C19, an autologous CD3ζ/CD28-based chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, in patients with refractory DLBCL. Patients received low-dose conditioning chemotherapy with concurrent cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2) and fludarabine (30 mg/m2) for 3 days followed by KTE-C19 at a target dose of 2 × 106 CAR T cells/kg. The incidence of dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was the primary endpoint. Seven patients were treated with KTE-C19 and one patient experienced a DLT of grade 4 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity. Grade ≥3 CRS and neurotoxicity were observed in 14% (n = 1/7) and 57% (n = 4/7) of patients, respectively. All other KTE-C19-related grade ≥3 events resolved within 1 month. The overall response rate was 71% (n = 5/7) and complete response (CR) rate was 57% (n = 4/7). Three patients have ongoing CR (all at 12+ months). CAR T cells demonstrated peak expansion within 2 weeks and continued to be detectable at 12+ months in patients with ongoing CR. This regimen of KTE-C19 was safe for further study in phase 2 and induced durable remissions in patients with refractory DLBCL. In a multicenter phase 1 study, Locke, Neelapu, et al. report tolerability and safety of KTE-C19, a CD19 chimeric antigen receptor technology, in patients with chemorefractory DLBCL. More importantly, KTE-C19 could provide durable clinical benefit in this difficult-to-treat patient population, demonstrating broad clinical applicability of KTE-C19.

Ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel), a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CAR T-cell therapy, is effective in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. We investigated cilta-cel in earlier treatment lines in patients with lenalidomide-refractory disease. In this phase 3, randomized, open-label trial, we assigned patients with lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma to receive cilta-cel or the physician's choice of effective standard care. All the patients had received one to three previous lines of treatment. The primary outcome was progression-free survival. A total of 419 patients underwent randomization (208 to receive cilta-cel and 211 to receive standard care). At a median follow-up of 15.9 months (range, 0.1 to 27.3), the median progression-free survival was not reached in the cilta-cel group and was 11.8 months in the standard-care group (hazard ratio, 0.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18 to 0.38; P<0.001). Progression-free survival at 12 months was 75.9% (95% CI, 69.4 to 81.1) in the cilta-cel group and 48.6% (95% CI, 41.5 to 55.3) in the standard-care group. More patients in the cilta-cel group than in the standard-care group had an overall response (84.6% vs. 67.3%), a complete response or better (73.1% vs. 21.8%), and an absence of minimal residual disease (60.6% vs. 15.6%). Death from any cause was reported in 39 patients and 46 patients, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.5 to 1.2). Most patients reported grade 3 or 4 adverse events during treatment. Among the 176 patients who received cilta-cel in the as-treated population, 134 (76.1%) had cytokine release syndrome (grade 3 or 4, 1.1%; no grade 5), 8 (4.5%) had immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (all grade 1 or 2), 1 had movement and neurocognitive symptoms (grade 1), 16 (9.1%) had cranial nerve palsy (grade 2, 8.0%; grade 3, 1.1%), and 5 (2.8%) had CAR-T-related peripheral neuropathy (grade 1 or 2, 2.3%; grade 3, 0.6%). A single cilta-cel infusion resulted in a lower risk of disease progression or death than standard care in lenalidomide-refractory patients with multiple myeloma who had received one to three previous therapies. (Funded by Janssen and Legend Biotech; CARTITUDE-4 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04181827.).

Engineering a patient’s own T cells to selectively target and eliminate tumour cells has cured patients with untreatable haematologic cancers. These results have energized the field to apply chimaeric antigen receptor (CAR) T therapy throughout oncology. However, evidence from clinical and preclinical studies underscores the potential of CAR T therapy beyond oncology in treating autoimmunity, chronic infections, cardiac fibrosis, senescence-associated disease and other conditions. Concurrently, the deployment of new technologies and platforms provides further opportunity for the application of CAR T therapy to noncancerous pathologies. Here we review the rationale behind CAR T therapy, current challenges faced in oncology, a synopsis of preliminary reports in noncancerous diseases, and a discussion of relevant emerging technologies. We examine potential applications for this therapy in a wide range of contexts. Last, we highlight concerns regarding specificity and safety and outline the path forward for CAR T therapy beyond cancer. The rationale behind chimaeric antigen receptor T cell therapy is reviewed, and current challenges in oncology, preliminary reports in noncancerous diseases and relevant emerging technologies are discussed.

Key Points Adoptive immunotherapy has rapidly evolved to harness modern genetic techniques to create T cells with enhanced specificity, efficacy and safety. Artificial expression of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or engineered T cell receptors (TCRs) in autologous T cells has enabled a new generation of targeted cellular therapeutics. Early clinical trials targeting B cell malignancies have shown great promise, generating unprecedented response rates to treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL). As more patients with different B cell malignancies are treated, areas for further optimization are brought to light. Engineered T cell therapy has been adapted to treat non-B cell malignancies, including multiple myeloma and myeloid malignancies as well as solid tumours. To date, target selection has proved challenging as many tumour-conserved markers are also expressed on benign tissues (for example, mesothelin) and other tumour-specific markers are less uniformly expressed (for example, epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII)). More precise targeting of tumour cell subsets, such as cancer stem cells, or targeting of portions of intracellular tumour markers in the context of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), may enhance specificity and limit off-tumour effects. Combining non-specific and specific immune responses (for example, T cells redirected for universal cytokine killing (TRUCKs), fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)–folate plus FITC-CAR T cell) could further enhance antitumour immune response, while minimizing off-tumour effects. Although lentiviral and retroviral transduction are still the most common approaches to ex vivo T cell gene modification, DNA and RNA transfection have some advantages. In particular, RNA transfection of short guide RNAs enables CRISPR–Cas9 modification of T cells. This targeted gene disruption approach could help to create engineered T cells with supraphysiological antitumour capabilities. In addition to specificity-enhancing artificial receptor expression, the next generation of engineered T cells may include modifications to overcome tumour-mediated immune suppression, additional receptors to enable Boolean gating of signal transduction or safety switches to enhance precision control of in vivo engineered T cell activity. This Review assesses what we have learnt about adoptive cell transfer of engineered T cells for the treatment of patients with B cell malignancies and discusses how this therapy can be improved and applied to other malignancies, including solid tumours. The immune system evolved to distinguish non-self from self to protect the organism. As cancer is derived from our own cells, immune responses to dysregulated cell growth present a unique challenge. This is compounded by mechanisms of immune evasion and immunosuppression that develop in the tumour microenvironment. The modern genetic toolbox enables the adoptive transfer of engineered T cells to create enhanced anticancer immune functions where natural cancer-specific immune responses have failed. Genetically engineered T cells, so-called 'living drugs', represent a new paradigm in anticancer therapy. Recent clinical trials using T cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or engineered T cell receptors (TCRs) have produced stunning results in patients with relapsed or refractory haematological malignancies. In this Review we describe some of the most recent and promising advances in engineered T cell therapy with a particular emphasis on what the next generation of T cell therapy is likely to entail.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting CD19 are a breakthrough treatment for relapsed, refractory B cell malignancies 1 – 5 . Despite impressive outcomes, relapse with CD19 − disease remains a challenge. We address this limitation through a first-in-human trial of bispecific anti-CD20, anti-CD19 (LV20.19) CAR T cells for relapsed, refractory B cell malignancies. Adult patients with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia were treated on a phase 1 dose escalation and expansion trial ( NCT03019055 ) to evaluate the safety of 4-1BB–CD3ζ LV20.19 CAR T cells and the feasibility of on-site manufacturing using the CliniMACS Prodigy system. CAR T cell doses ranged from 2.5 × 10 5 –2.5 × 10 6 cells per kg. Cell manufacturing was set at 14 d with the goal of infusing non-cryopreserved LV20.19 CAR T cells. The target dose of LV20.19 CAR T cells was met in all CAR-naive patients, and 22 patients received LV20.19 CAR T cells on protocol. In the absence of dose-limiting toxicity, a dose of 2.5 × 10 6 cells per kg was chosen for expansion. Grade 3–4 cytokine release syndrome occurred in one (5%) patient, and grade 3–4 neurotoxicity occurred in three (14%) patients. Eighteen (82%) patients achieved an overall response at day 28, 14 (64%) had a complete response, and 4 (18%) had a partial response. The overall response rate to the dose of 2.5 × 10 6 cells per kg with non-cryopreserved infusion ( n  = 12) was 100% (complete response, 92%; partial response, 8%). Notably, loss of the CD19 antigen was not seen in patients who relapsed or experienced treatment failure. In conclusion, on-site manufacturing and infusion of non-cryopreserved LV20.19 CAR T cells were feasible and therapeutically safe, showing low toxicity and high efficacy. Bispecific CARs may improve clinical responses by mitigating target antigen downregulation as a mechanism of relapse. A new bispecific CAR T cell product targeting the CD20 and CD19 antigens demonstrates an excellent safety profile and high clinical efficacy in patients with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Genome-edited donor-derived allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells offer a novel form of CAR-T-cell product that is available for immediate clinical use, thereby broadening access and applicability. UCART19 is one such product investigated in children and adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Two multicentre phase 1 studies aimed to investigate the feasibility, safety, and antileukaemic activity of UCART19 in children and adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. We enrolled paediatric or adult patients in two ongoing, multicentre, phase 1 clinical trials to evaluate the safety and antileukaemic activity of UCART19. All patients underwent lymphodepletion with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide with or without alemtuzumab, then children received UCART19 at 1·1–2·3 × 106 cells per kg and adults received UCART19 doses of 6 × 106 cells, 6–8 × 107 cells, or 1·8–2·4 × 108 cells in a dose-escalation study. The primary outcome measure was adverse events in the period between first infusion and data cutoff. These studies were registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02808442 and NCT02746952. Between June 3, 2016, and Oct 23, 2018, seven children and 14 adults were enrolled in the two studies and received UCART19. Cytokine release syndrome was the most common adverse event and was observed in 19 patients (91%); three (14%) had grade 3–4 cytokine release syndrome. Other adverse events were grade 1 or 2 neurotoxicity in eight patients (38%), grade 1 acute skin graft-versus-host disease in two patients (10%), and grade 4 prolonged cytopenia in six patients (32%). Two treatment-related deaths occurred; one caused by neutropenic sepsis in a patient with concurrent cytokine release syndrome and one from pulmonary haemorrhage in a patient with persistent cytopenia. 14 (67%) of 21 patients had a complete response or complete response with incomplete haematological recovery 28 days after infusion. Patients not receiving alemtuzumab (n=4) showed no UCART19 expansion or antileukaemic activity. The median duration of response was 4·1 months with ten (71%) of 14 responders proceeding to a subsequent allogeneic stem-cell transplant. Progression-free survival at 6 months was 27%, and overall survival was 55%. These two studies show, for the first time, the feasibility of using allogeneic, genome-edited CAR T cells to treat patients with aggressive leukaemia. UCART19 exhibited in-vivo expansion and antileukaemic activity with a manageable safety profile in heavily pretreated paediatric and adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The results this study are an encouraging step forward for the field of allogeneic CAR T cells, and UCART19 offers the opportunity to treat patients with rapidly progressive disease and where autologous CAR-T-cell therapy is unavailable. Servier.