Vural Ece, Beksaç Meral
Clinic of Hematology, Ankara Liv Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye.
Balkan Med J. 2025 Jul 1;42(4):301-310. doi: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-4-25.
Multiple myeloma (MM) treatment becomes a major challenge once triple-class or penta-refractoriness develops. Emerging immunotherapies, including bispecific antibodies or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, are promising options for such patients. However, the requirement for specialized expertise and staff under stringent manufacturing conditions results in high costs and restricted production. This article explores the manufacturing and clinical application of CAR T-cells in MM, highlighting their potential, limitations, and strategies to enhance efficacy. CAR-T can be manufactured by pharmaceutical companies or accredited academic centers authorized to produce and market gene-edited cellular products. This process includes sequential steps: T cell apheresis from the patient, selection of the cells, activation, gene transfer, expansion of the produced cells, cryopreservation, and reinfusion of the cells into a lymphodepleted patient. While CD3+ T cells are typically employed for CAR-T production in clinical studies, studies have demonstrated the potential advantages of specific T cell subgroups, such as naive, central memory, and memory stem cells, in enhancing efficacy. Following T cell harvesting, the subsequent phase involves genetic modification. CAR-T cells are frequently produced by applying viral vectors such as γ-retrovirus or lentivirus. Although viral vectors are commonly used, non-viral methods-including CRISPR/Cas9 and integrative mRNA transfection methods produced by transposons-are also employed. Five different CAR-T cell generations have been developed. The myeloma-specific targets B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), signaling lymphocyte activation molecular family 7, and G protein-coupled receptor class C group 5 member D are the most extensively studied in clinical trials. Emerging CAR-T cell targets under investigation include CD138, CD19, kappa light chain, CD56, NY-ESO-1, CD70, TACI, and natural killer G2D. In 2021, idecabtagene vicleucel, a BCMA-targeting agent, became the first CAR-T therapy approved for relapsed/refractory MM, marking a significant milestone in MM treatment. Subsequently, ciltacabtagene autoleucel has also been approved. However, CAR-T resistance is an emerging issue. Resistance mechanisms include T cell exhaustion, antigen escape (loss of BCMA), and tumor microenvironment-related inhibitors. To address these challenges, strategies such as BCMA non-targeted or dual-targeted CAR-T, memory T cells, humanized CAR-T, and rapidly manufactured PHE885 cells have been developed. To enhance specificity, ongoing investigations include bicistronic CAR/co-stimulator receptors, formation of memory-phenotype T cells, combination with immunomodulators or checkpoint inhibitors, armored CAR-T cells, cancer-associated fibroblast inhibitors, and CAR approaches that inhibit exhaustion signals. In conclusion, studies are exploring the use of CAR-T at an earlier stage, including at diagnosis, with an aim to replace ASCT. CAR-T has introduced a new dimension to MM treatment; however, limited efficacy in high-risk MM and the emergence of resistance to CAR-T remain key challenges to be addressed.
一旦出现三重耐药或五重难治性,多发性骨髓瘤(MM)的治疗就会成为一项重大挑战。新兴的免疫疗法,包括双特异性抗体或嵌合抗原受体(CAR)-T细胞疗法,是这类患者很有前景的选择。然而,在严格的生产条件下对专业技术和人员的要求导致成本高昂且产量受限。本文探讨了CAR-T细胞在MM中的生产及临床应用,突出了它们的潜力、局限性以及提高疗效的策略。CAR-T可由制药公司或经授权生产和销售基因编辑细胞产品的认可学术中心制造。这个过程包括以下连续步骤:从患者身上采集T细胞、细胞筛选、激活、基因转移、所产生细胞的扩增、冷冻保存以及将细胞重新注入经过淋巴细胞清除的患者体内。虽然在临床研究中通常使用CD3 + T细胞来生产CAR-T,但研究已经证明特定T细胞亚群,如初始T细胞、中枢记忆T细胞和记忆干细胞,在提高疗效方面具有潜在优势。在采集T细胞之后,接下来的阶段涉及基因改造。CAR-T细胞通常通过应用病毒载体如γ-逆转录病毒或慢病毒来生产。虽然病毒载体被普遍使用,但也采用非病毒方法,包括CRISPR/Cas9和由转座子产生的整合mRNA转染方法。已经开发出了五代不同的CAR-T细胞。骨髓瘤特异性靶点B细胞成熟抗原(BCMA)、信号淋巴细胞激活分子家族7和G蛋白偶联受体C类第5组成员D是临床试验中研究最广泛的。正在研究的新兴CAR-T细胞靶点包括CD138、CD19、κ轻链、CD56、NY-ESO-1、CD70、TACI和自然杀伤细胞G2D。2021年,靶向BCMA的药物idecabtagene vicleucel成为首个被批准用于复发/难治性MM的CAR-T疗法,这标志着MM治疗中的一个重要里程碑。随后,西达基奥仑赛也已获批。然而,CAR-T耐药是一个新出现的问题。耐药机制包括T细胞耗竭、抗原逃逸(BCMA缺失)以及与肿瘤微环境相关的抑制剂。为应对这些挑战,已经开发出了诸如非靶向或双靶向BCMA的CAR-T、记忆T细胞、人源化CAR-T以及快速制造的PHE885细胞等策略。为提高特异性,正在进行的研究包括双顺反子CAR/共刺激受体、记忆表型T细胞的形成、与免疫调节剂或检查点抑制剂联合、武装CAR-T细胞、癌症相关成纤维细胞抑制剂以及抑制耗竭信号的CAR方法。总之,研究正在探索在更早阶段使用CAR-T,包括在诊断时,以期取代自体干细胞移植(ASCT)。CAR-T为MM治疗带来了新的维度;然而,在高危MM中疗效有限以及对CAR-T产生耐药性的出现仍然是有待解决的关键挑战。
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