Steven Albelda, MD

Steven M. Albelda, MD, Wiliam M. Measey professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, discusses what he expects the future of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell use in solid tumors to look like.

According to Albelda, there has been a lot of success with the use of CAR T cells in blood tumors, but the same has not been reflected in the solid tumor space.

With a number of ongoing trials examining CAR T cells in various types of cancers, including phase 1 studies in brain, renal/hepatic, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, thoracic, and head and neck cancers, experts hope the future will bring impressive results from the use of CAR T cells in solid tumors.

With the success in blood tumors, the field is really excited about trying to achieve the same success in solid tumors, but it may take a while. If you think about how long it's taken for monoclonal antibody therapy to become a mainstay or more traditional gene therapy, an area I started in, it could sometimes take 20-25 years of iterative progress, or sometimes a big breakthrough comes that changes everything. I think the field is really hoping towards that. We are making incremental changes, and hopefully in the next 5 years, we will be close to the stage that we're at with the blood tumors.

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Steven M. Albelda, MD, discusses what he expects the future of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell use in solid tumors to look like.


CAR T-Cell Use Generates Hope in Solid Tumors

Steven M. Albelda, MD, Wiliam M. Measey Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, discusses the limited successes of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in solid tumors.

According to Albelda, while there has been little success in this field, research primarily done at the National Cancer Institute has shown melanoma to have the most success with adoptive T-cell transfer. These data primarily examine T cells harvested from tumors which are then expanded and given back to patients.

Along with melanoma, the sarcoma field has seen promise with patients occasionally having partial responses or stable disease. While no complete responses have been demonstrated yet, experts continue to examine 

 including head and neck cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and more.

 The 1 that has had the most success with adoptive T-cell transfer has been melanoma. That's mostly been with the T cells that have been harvested from the tumors and expanded and then given back to the patients. This has been primarily done at the National Cancer Institute, but I know that [The University of Texas] MD Anderson is also doing this. There are also some companies that have been starting to try to develop that.

 Mostly, the success in CAR Ts in solid tumors has been very limited. There was also some success in sarcomas. But in general, I don't know of any complete responses. There's an occasional partial response and some stable disease, but it's nothing like what's been seen with the blood tumors. That hasn't stopped people from trying. There's lots of trials in many types of cancers, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, which are the 2 that I'm most familiar with. But head and neck [cancer] has quite an active scene as well as brain tumors, glioblastomas, colon cancer, prostate cancer. There are a number of ongoing trials.

Steven M. Albelda, MD, discusses the limited successes of CAR T cells in solid tumors.

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CAR T-Cell Use Generates Hope in Solid Tumors

Discussing the Use of CAR T Cells in Solid Tumors