CAR T cells – the first clinical trial in Europe

Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital were in 2014 the first in Europe to treat cancer patients with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, an immunotherapy in which the patient's own T cells are equipped with a CAR molecule that recognizes an antigen on the surface of the tumor cell. The treatment involves the patient providing a large blood sample from which T cells are isolated and modified with a viral vector carrying the CAR molecule. The modified CAR T cells are then cultured in a clean room to increase their numbers and then given back to the patient. It was Angelica Loskog's and Gunilla Enblad's research groups, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA, that pioneered this work and put Uppsala on the global CAR-T map. Magnus Essand's research group has also been a driving force in taking the therapy further. A total of 39 patients with B-cell lymphoma and B-cell leukemia have been treated in two academic studies (EudraCT No: 2013-001393-19 and 2016-004043-36), both published in Clinical Cancer Research.

• A Phase I/IIa Trial Using CD19-Targeted Third-Generation CAR T Cells for Lymphoma and Leukemia (aacrjournals.org)
• Single-cell RNA analysis reveals cell-intrinsic functions of CAR-T cells correlating with response in a phase II study of lymphoma patients (aacrjournals.org)

Foto: The first infusion of CAR T cells in Europe. The patient is being infused by a research nurse from the Clinical Research and Development Unit (KFUE). Photographer: Gunilla Enblad.