C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, chief of Myeloma Service and hematologic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses what is next for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in the multiple myeloma landscape.

Landgren thinks the field is about to reach its potential since there are several CAR T cells that are autologous; these are going after the same target, so remaining questions now include which agent be the winner or will there be room for multiple CAR T therapies? The upcoming data will show what is best for patients with multiple myeloma. It may depend on which therapy is easier to give, which could be given in the outpatient setting, and which is safer. He says if there is a difference in efficacy, that would also generate an answer as to which agent is best, but right now it is uncertain.

There are also specific antibodies in development at the same time as these CAR T-cell therapies are being researched. For patients with multiple myeloma, there are many bi-specific antibodies being investigated. There are 5 to 10 of them right now that go after BCMA and CD3, and there are also tri-specific antibodies in development that have co-stimulatory domains, according to Landgren. CAR T cells and the bi-specific therapies are both quickly moving forward, as well as possible tri-specifics. He says the winner will be a combination, but the future will tell.

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C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, discusses what is next for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in the multiple myeloma landscape.

Exploring the Future of CAR T-Cell Therapy in Multiple Myeloma

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, chief of Myeloma Service and hematologic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and CAR natural killer (NK) cells in the multiple myeloma setting.

As with every therapy, there are pros and cons to the use of NK cells and CAR T cells, according to Landgren. One of the challenges when it comes to CAR T cells is the practical delivery of these agents since patients usually need to be hospitalized. These patients also have to undergo procedures if they are being treated with autologous CAR T cells. This therapy implies patients have to come in, go through CAR T-cell harvesting, and then come back about a month later when they can receive these CAR T cells in the hospital.

Landgren says that with allogeneic CAR T cells, there is no need to harvest the cells because they come from donors. That is also true for treatment with NK cells.

There has been investigation into the possibility of making CAR T-cell therapy done as an outpatient treatment, but it depends on management and adverse effects. Some of the CAR T cells have a delayed onset of cytokine release syndrome, so maybe that will be CAR T cells for myeloma that can be done in more of an outpatient setting, but this is to be proven going forward, Landgren explains.

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C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, discusses the use of chimeric antigen receptor T cells and CAR natural killer cells in the multiple myeloma setting.

Exploring Challenges With CAR T Cells and NK Cells in Multiple Myeloma

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, a senior investigator in the Multiple Myeloma Section of the National Cancer Institute, discusses the treatment of older patients (over age 70) with multiple myeloma. This interview took place at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting.

Every year in the U.S., 10,000 people under the age of 70 and 10,000 people over the age of 70 are diagnosed with multiple myeloma

Younger patients typically experience better outcomes while older patients do not see much improvement

Using newer therapy strategies, my projection is that

pts 70+ yrs will have 2-3x better survival within 5 yrs

Now that older patients are being treated with new drugs, theyâ€‹ are seeing an improvement in survival

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, a senior investigator in the Multiple Myeloma Section of the National Cancer Institute, discusses the treatment of older patients (over age 70) with multiple myeloma.

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD | Authors

Articles

Exploring the Future of CAR T-Cell Therapy in Multiple Myeloma

Exploring Challenges With CAR T Cells and NK Cells in Multiple Myeloma

The Treatment of Older Patients With Multiple Myeloma