Dr. Sasine on Predicting Individual Benefit with CAR T Cells

Joshua P. Sasine, MD, PhD, clinical instructor of medicine, hematologist, and oncologist, University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the challenges in predicting a patient’s individual benefit with CAR T-cell therapy in hematologic malignancies.

Though it is difficult to pinpoint predictive patient characteristics to CAR T-cell therapy, it is getting easier, Sasine says. Both before and after CAR T-cell treatment, certain cytokine profiles appear to be associated with long-term, durable remissions.

Also, characteristics of the treatment, such as the depth of lymphodepletion, could potentially indicate a patient’s prognosis. Importantly, this can be modified and controlled in the clinic, concludes Sasine.