The CAR-T cells are here

Due to immunotherapy, a new era of treatment is opening up for the treatment of solid cancers and hematological tumors. T cells genetically modified with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T cells) have recently been proved efficient in hematological malignancies expressing CD19. On June 20th 2018, the European Medicines Agency gave a favorable opinion on two types of anti-CD19 CAR-T cells - tisagenlecleucel and oxicabtogene ciloleucel - in the management of malignant hemopathies 8 after two lines of treatment. Their remarkable efficacy has been demonstrated in the first clinical trials conducted in the United States, but they present new and potentially serious side effects (cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, among others). However, this new class of gene therapy raises practical problems regarding its production circuit, its delivery conditions and its high cost.