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Cytokine release syndrome, a side effect of an immunotherapy used to treat leukemia and lymphoma, appears to be caused by the way the intervention kills the tumor cells, according to a mouse study reported Friday (January 17) in Science Immunology. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, engineered to track down and destroy cancer cells, induce pyroptosis, a messy form of cell death that causes the cells to explode, the researchers found. This eventually unleashes a rush of cytokines to be released from immune cells called macrophages—a process known to cause low blood pressure, fever, nausea, and breathing problems in patients.
There may be a way to avoid an overload of cytokines, the authors found. Interfering in the downstream effects of pyroptosis, either by blocking certain molecules or destroying macrophages, stopped cytokine release syndrome from occurring in mice.
“The experiments need to be confirmed by other labs,” ...
