Lee, Lydia;
Lim, Wen Chean;
Galas-Filipowicz, Daria;
Fung, Kent;
Taylor, Julia;
Patel, Dominic;
Akbar, Zulaikha;
... Popat, Rakesh; + view all
(2023)
Limited efficacy of APRIL CAR in patients with multiple myeloma indicate challenges in the use of natural ligands for CAR T-cell therapy.
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
, 11
(6)
, Article e006699. 10.1136/jitc-2023-006699.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: We used a proliferating ligand (APRIL) to construct a ligand-based third generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) able to target two myeloma antigens, B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and transmembrane activator and CAML interactor. METHODS: The APRIL CAR was evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT03287804, AUTO2) in patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma. Eleven patients received 13 doses, the first 15×106 CARs, and subsequent patients received 75,225,600 and 900×106 CARs in a 3+3 escalation design. RESULTS: The APRIL CAR was well tolerated. Five (45.5%) patients developed Grade 1 cytokine release syndrome and there was no neurotoxicity. However, responses were only observed in 45.5% patients (1×very good partial response, 3×partial response, 1×minimal response). Exploring the mechanistic basis for poor responses, we then compared the APRIL CAR to two other BCMA CARs in a series of in vitro assays, observing reduced interleukin-2 secretion and lack of sustained tumor control by APRIL CAR regardless of transduction method or co-stimulatory domain. There was also impaired interferon signaling of APRIL CAR and no evidence of autoactivation. Thus focusing on APRIL itself, we confirmed similar affinity to BCMA and protein stability in comparison to BCMA CAR binders but reduced binding by cell-expressed APRIL to soluble BCMA and reduced avidity to tumor cells. This indicated either suboptimal folding or stability of membrane-bound APRIL attenuating CAR activation. CONCLUSIONS: The APRIL CAR was well tolerated, but the clinical responses observed in AUTO2 were disappointing. Subsequently, when comparing the APRIL CAR to other BCMA CARs, we observed in vitro functional deficiencies due to reduced target binding by cell-expressed ligand.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Limited efficacy of APRIL CAR in patients with multiple myeloma indicate challenges in the use of natural ligands for CAR T-cell therapy |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/jitc-2023-006699 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jitc-2023-006699 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | T-lymphocytes, clinical trials as topic, immunotherapy, immunotherapy, adoptive, Humans, Receptors, Chimeric Antigen, Immunotherapy, Adoptive, Multiple Myeloma, Ligands, B-Cell Maturation Antigen, T-Lymphocytes |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute > Research Department of Haematology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10172907 |
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