Strategies to optimize CAR-T cell therapy in hematological malignancies: Chinese experience

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has emerged as a promising form of adoptive T cell immunotherapy for selected hematological malignancies (HMs) including leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Moreover, China has become the country with the largest number of registered CAR-T trials. Despite its remarkable clinical outcomes, the challenges such as disease relapse, the process of manufacturing CAR-T cells and safety have been manifesting and limited the therapeutic efficacy of CAR-T cells in HMs. In this innovative era, quite a number of clinical trials have been reported to confirm CAR designs directed onto new targets in HMs. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the contemporary landscape and clinical development of CAR-T cell therapy in China. In addition, we also present the strategies for further improving the clinical utility of CAR-T therapy in HMs, inclusively the efficacy and the response duration.