Review of evidence regarding CAR T cells and T-cell therapies for cancer

A review of published studies summarized the evidence regarding cellular immunotherapies for cancer. Six CAR T-cell products are approved by the FDA for 6 hematological malignancies: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and multiple myeloma. CAR T-cell therapy is associated with improvements of clinical outcomes in these hematological malignancies, but also with reversible acute toxicities, such as cytokine release syndrome and neurologic disorders. New CAR T-cell therapies are being developed, aiming to increase efficacy and decrease adverse effects. No CAR T-cell therapies are FDA approved for solid tumors, but recently two other T lymphocyte-based treatments gained approval: the TIL therapy lifileucel for advanced melanoma and the TCR T cell therapy afamitresgene autoleucel for advanced synovial sarcoma.