Illustration of chimeric antigen receptors on the surface of an engineered T cellISTOCK, SELVANEGRAChimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, T-cell therapy has proven itself to benefit some patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other cancers when traditional treatments have failed to save them—even producing some long-term remissions in pediatric and adult leukemias and lymphoma. Two of these immunotherapies are now FDA-approved, and many more are in clinical testing. But these new treatments come with a cost, which can sometimes be fatal.
Now, researchers have figured out how to better study two dangerous side effects: cytokine-release syndrome (CRS), which causes a suite of symptoms, and neurotoxicity. Using newly developed mouse models of CRS, two independent groups have pinpointed the cytokines responsible for the symptoms and found that cytokine blockers—some of which are already approved for use in humans—can improve the animals’ conditions and survival. The studies were published in the Nature Medicine May 28.
These results open doors to developing ways to better modulate the release and damage of IL-1 and IL-6 by blocking the production of IL-1.
“We have learned a lot about CRS and neurotoxicity by treating patients in the clinic, but until now it was not possible to study their pathogenesis and develop new ...
