Mechanisms of failure of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy
CURRENT OPINION IN HEMATOLOGY
Authors: Li, Xiaoqing; Chen, Weihong
Abstract
Purpose of review Although chimeric antigen receptor T (CART)-cell therapy is best recognized for its antitumor effect in relapsed/refractory B-cell hematological cancers, it is still associated with a high relapse rate. Recent findings We firstly analyzed internal immunological and genetic reasons of CD19+ relapse after treatment for R/R B-cell hematological cancers with CART19 cells. The reasons: murine-derived scFv may limit expansion of CART cells. Repeated antigen exposure leads to T-cell exhaustion. Activation of T cells can cause T-cell senescence and high expression of inhibitive receptors, PD-1, CTLA4, TIGIT, LAG-3, CD244, CD160, TIM3, which might be solved by some external pharmacological intervention methods [for instance, the use of FC (Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide) lymphodepletion regimen, lenalidomide, PD-1 inhibitor, ibrutinib and humanized CD19-CART cells. Secondly, mechanism of CD19 relapse can be attributed to the preexisting of CD19(-) subclone, the loss or alternative RNA splicing on exon 2 of chromosome 16 on which CD19 gene is located, B-cell transcript factors - paired-box 5 (PAX5) and early B-cell factor 1 (EBF1) are down-regulated to cause lineage-switch from lymphoid to myeloid. Although different preparation techniques generates various entities of CART 19 cells, these problems could be conquered by novel agents and novel CAR system. Video abstract Although Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CART) cell therapy is best recognized for its antitumor effect in Relapsed/Refractory B-cell hematological cancers, it still shows a high relapse rate. We review mechanisms of failure of CART therapy. .
An intact gut microbiome protects genetically predisposed mice against leukemia
BLOOD
Authors: Vicente-Duenas, Carolina; Janssen, Stefan; Oldenburg, Marina; Auer, Franziska; Gonzalez-Herrero, Ines; Casado-Garcia, Ana; Isidro-Hernandez, Marta; Raboso-Gallego, Javier; Westhoff, Philipp; Pandyra, Aleksandra A.; Hein, Daniel; Goessling, Katharina L.; Alonso-Lopez, Diego; De Las Rivas, Javier; Bhatia, Sanil; Javier Garcia-Criado, Francisco; Begona Garcia-Cenador, Maria; Weber, Andreas P. M.; Koehrer, Karl; Hauer, Julia; Fischer, Ute; Sanchez-Garcia, Isidro; Borkhardt, Arndt
Abstract
The majority of childhood leukemias are precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias (pB-ALLs) caused by a combination of prenatal genetic predispositions and oncogenic events occurring after birth. Although genetic predispositions are frequent in children (>1% to 5%), fewer than 1% of genetically predisposed carriers will develop pB-ALL. Although infectious stimuli are believed to play a major role in leukemogenesis, the critical determinants are not well defined. Here, by using murine models of pB-ALL, we show that microbiome disturbances incurred by antibiotic treatment early in life were sufficient to induce leukemia in genetically predisposed mice, even in the absence of infectious stimuli and independent of T cells. By using V4 and full-length 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing of a series of fecal samples, we found that genetic predisposition to pB-ALL (Pax5 heterozygosity or ETV6-RUNX1 fusion) shaped a distinct gut microbiome. Machine learning accurately (96.8%) predicted genetic predisposition using 40 of 3983 amplicon sequence variants as proxies for bacterial species. Transplantation of either wild-type (WT) or Pax51/- hematopoietic bone marrow cells into WT recipient mice revealed that the microbiome is shaped and determined in a donor genotype-specific manner. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses of sera from WT and Pax51/- mice demonstrated the presence of a genotype-specific distinct metabolomic profile. Taken together, our data indicate that it is a lack of commensal microbiota rather than the presence of specific bacteria that promotes leukemia in genetically predisposed mice. Future large-scale longitudinal studies are required to determine whether targeted microbiome modification in children predisposed to pB-ALL could become a successful prevention strategy.