Dr. Janakiram on Future Targets and Strategies for CAR T-cell Therapy in Myeloma

Murali Janakiram, MD, MS, hematologist, oncologist, City of Hope, discusses future targets and research strategies for CAR T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma.

Idecabtagene vicleucel (Abecma) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Carvykti), which are the 2 CAR T-cell therapies currently approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma, both target BCMA, Janakiram says. However, other CAR T-cell therapies with novel targets such as GPRC5D and others being evaluated, Janakiram adds.

Additionally, researchers are investigating allogenic CAR T cells, which could provide patients with an off-the-shelf treatment that does not carry a long production time, Janakiram explains.

Furthermore, allogeneic CAR-engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies represent another off-the-shelf product under investigation, Janakiram continues. NK cell therapies could reduce the incidence of adverse effects associated with CAR T-cell therapies, such as cytokine release syndrome and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome, Janakiram concludes.