Articles

Current developments and hurdles in CAR-T cell therapy for acute myeloid leukaemia

BJH - volume 12, issue 6, october 2021

L. Van Camp MD, T. Lammens PhD, A. Uyttebroeck MD, PhD, B. De Moerloose MD, PhD

SUMMARY

Despite huge progress in the past decades, the overall survival (OS) of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) remains poor. The treatment options run low for those refractory or intolerant to first and second line treatment or in case of relapse. The need for alternative treatment is great and imperative to further improve the OS of these patients. The success of CAR-T19 therapy for the treatment of B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia has demonstrated the feasibility of delivering these therapies, and success in further improving survival rates. Among others, the fundamental biological factor limiting the applicability of CAR-T immuno-therapy in the treatment of AML includes the lack of a leukaemia-specific antigen, or an antigen shared by leukaemia blasts and haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells whose sustained depletion could be clinically tolerated. In this review, we describe the most recent developments, clinical results and challenges in CAR-T cell therapy for AML.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2021;12(6):244-50)

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