CAR T-Cell Use Generates Hope in Solid Tumors

Steven M. Albelda, MD, Wiliam M. Measey professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, discusses what he expects the future of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell use in solid tumors to look like.

According to Albelda, there has been a lot of success with the use of CAR T cells in blood tumors, but the same has not been reflected in the solid tumor space.

With a number of ongoing trials examining CAR T cells in various types of cancers, including phase 1 studies in brain, renal/hepatic, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, thoracic, and head and neck cancers, experts hope the future will bring impressive results from the use of CAR T cells in solid tumors.

Transcription:

0:08 | With the success in blood tumors, the field is really excited about trying to achieve the same success in solid tumors, but it may take a while. If you think about how long it's taken for monoclonal antibody therapy to become a mainstay or more traditional gene therapy, an area I started in, it could sometimes take 20-25 years of iterative progress, or sometimes a big breakthrough comes that changes everything. I think the field is really hoping towards that. We are making incremental changes, and hopefully in the next 5 years, we will be close to the stage that we're at with the blood tumors.