Loretta J. Nastoupil, MD, discusses the use of off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor T-cell products for the treatment of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and other cancers.
Loretta J. Nastoupil, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the use of off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell products for the treatment of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and other cancers.
Allogeneic CAR T-cell products offer advantages, such as access to more patients in a timelier manner, according to Nastoupil. A healthy donor can give to multiple CAR T-cell products that can be manufactured and stocked. Once a potential patient is identified, those cells are ready to be infused within a 2-week time frame. For a disease that progresses rapidly, this is a big advantage, says Nastoupil.
This type of product is limited because it is still in phase 1 of many trials. Investigators are focused on safety right now and have not tested the safety yet. Some wonder whether these products will induce graft-vs-host disease, which is a unique property of using a donor T cell. Nastoupil thinks that a more important question is whether patients will be able to persist since these are allogeneic cells. If these concerns are shown to be nonissues or something that can be avoided when using CAR T-cell products, then there could be access to many more patients and a better turnaround time, which could potentially lead to better efficacy for patients.
Brain Cancer Awareness Month: Challenges and Innovations in Treatment
May 13th 2024In an interview with Targeted Oncology for Brain Cancer Awareness Month, Theodore Schwartz, MD, discussed the challenges of targeting brain tumors, emerging therapies, and strategies to overcome the blood-brain barrier.
Read More
SELECT Trial Establishes Lenvatinib’s Role in RAI-Refractory DTC
May 2nd 2024In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Lori J. Wirth, MD, delved into how the data from SELECT signals lenvatinib effectiveness as a frontline therapy for patients with RAI-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.
Read More