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CAR-T cell therapy seeks strategies to harness cytokine storm

Nature Biotechnology volume 32, page 604 (2014)Cite this article

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The deaths should have come as no surprise to anyone following the field of immunotherapy, since in 2006, the (now defunct) British company TeGenero, nearly killed six healthy volunteers in a phase 1 study of an anti-CD28 monoclonal antibody, TGN1412, being tested for use in B-cell tumors and autoimmune disorders. What CAR-T cells and TGN1412 have in common is that they both lead to T-cell expansion in vivo, which can in turn lead to the release of toxic levels of cytokines, referred to variously as cytokine storms or cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Infusion reactions are common with antibody therapeutics, with symptoms ranging from mild nausea and fever, to life-threatening multiple organ failure, as seen with TGN1412 and more recently with some CAR-T cell therapies.

What no one knows is whether cytokine release syndrome is essential for maximum effect.

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    Laura DeFrancesco

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  1. Laura DeFrancesco
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DeFrancesco, L. CAR-T cell therapy seeks strategies to harness cytokine storm. Nat Biotechnol 32, 604 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0714-604

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