Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy: Engineered receptors on the surface of a T-lymphocyte bind specifically to CD19-antigen molecules on the surface of a leukemia cell. This activates a signal cascade in the T-cell leading to the segregation of vesicles that contain perforin and gramzymes molecules. The perforins build channels for the granzymes which enter the leukemia cell and activate finally the apoptosis (cell death) of the cancer cell.
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NYU Langone cancer experts Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, and Catherine S. Diefenbach, MD, spoke with the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) about immunotherapy news presented at the 2018 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Dr. Weber highlighted a study showing patients who have melanoma can safely stop treatment after 1 or 2 years of receiving a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody and stay in remission for several years.
“That’s practice changing because it reassures patients you can go one or two years, stop treatment, and be reassured that you’re going to stay in remission for a long time,” says Dr. Weber, who is deputy director of NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.
Dr. Diefenbach cites promising data on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for patients with relapsed lymphoma.
“The take-home message is that CARs are getting better, and they’re getting safer,” she says. “I think CARs are here to stay.”
Watch more on CRI’s YouTube channel.
