Relapse after HSCT 2021 | CAR-transduced NK cell therapy
Catherine Bollard, MBChB, MD, FRACP, FRCPA, Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, discusses the potential role of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-transduced natural killer (NK) cells. Prof. Bollard reports that a recent study demonstrated the safe use of CD19 CAR-NK cells in B-cell malignancies. In addition, these cells are associated with IL-15, which enhances the survival of these cells. Larger studies are required to test the efficacy of these CAR-NK products in the clinic. Prof. Bollard also comments on the growing interest in CAR-transduced NK cells for solid tumors. This interview took place at the 2021 Relapse After HSCT² Workshop in New York, NY.
Transcript (edited for clarity)
The publication that came out of MD Anderson a couple of years ago now created a lot of interest – the use of CD19 CAR-transduced NK cells in the off-the-shelf setting. These were cord blood-derived NK cells that were gene engineered with the CD19 CAR.
They definitely demonstrated in this study that there was a strong safety signal, and they also were able to show that gene engineering the NK cells with the CAR that also had membrane-bound IL-15 associated with it did result in a longer detection of these adoptively transferred NK cells than had previously been described in other studies using NK cells...
The publication that came out of MD Anderson a couple of years ago now created a lot of interest – the use of CD19 CAR-transduced NK cells in the off-the-shelf setting. These were cord blood-derived NK cells that were gene engineered with the CD19 CAR.
They definitely demonstrated in this study that there was a strong safety signal, and they also were able to show that gene engineering the NK cells with the CAR that also had membrane-bound IL-15 associated with it did result in a longer detection of these adoptively transferred NK cells than had previously been described in other studies using NK cells.
So, this was very exciting for the field. I think what the study still hasn’t addressed is the efficacy of this platform, and this can really only be answered in larger phase studies. And so, there is a wealth of activity going on, both in academia and in pharma, to get these off-the-shelf CAR NK cells to the clinic and test the efficacy question.
I think also where off-the-shelf CAR NK cells could make a potential impact is in the solid tumor setting. As we know, CAR T-cells, so far, have not made much of an impact in the solid tumor setting, certainly nothing like the impact they have made in the blood cancer setting. So, there’s a lot of activity around looking at the potential for these CAR NK cell products for solid tumors, and so, this is a space I think we all should watch very carefully.
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Disclosures
Catherine Bollard, MBChB, MD, FRACP, FRCPA, is the Co-founder and scientific advisory board member of Catamaran Bio and Mana Therapeutics, is a board member of Cabaletta Bio, owns stock in Neximmune, Repertoire Immune Medicines and DSMB- SOBI; and participates in advisory boards for Pfizer, BMS and Roche on an ad hoc basis.
