Dr. Jacobson on the Significance of CD19-Targeted CAR T-Cell Therapy in B-Cell Malignancies

Caron Jacobson, MD, a senior physician and medical director of the Immune Effector Cell Therapy Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses the significance of CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapy in B-cell malignancies.

The introduction of CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapy has transformed the treatment of patients with CD19-positive cancers, ​says Jacobson, adding that the effects of CAR T-cell therapy have been felt across hematologic malignancies.

As the​se products continue in development, research efforts are seeking ways to apply this technology to other diseases that do not express CD19​, Jacobson explains. 

With a number of ongoing clinical trials ​underway, the field is hopeful that these products will receive new ​regulatory indications so that the benefits observed in B-cell malignancies can translate to other tumor types, Jacobson concludes.