How can we predict responses to CAR T-cell therapies, such as bb2121?

During the 46th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), the Multiple Myeloma Hub spoke to Nikhil Munshi, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, US, about chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for MM.

CAR T cells have proven to be an extremely effective therapy, with 73–100% of patients responding to treatment. In recent studies, complete response (CR) rates of 33–86% have been achieved. So the question becomes, can we predict which patients will achieve CR?

While there is no clear method, there is some evidence linking expansion of T cells and response to therapy. In this video, Nikhil Munshi goes in to this association in more detail and discusses the impact of exposure to, and persistence of, CAR T-cells along with the implications of the development of an anti-CAR T-cell immune response.