2019 Clinical Research Forum Top Ten | Predicting response to CAR T-cell therapy in CLL

Predicting response of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy nominated by the University of Pennsylvania, represented by Dr. Joseph A. Fraietta, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Director, Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies. A common reason for failure of the immune system to eliminate leukemia is that it does not recognize and kill cancer cells. It is now possible to use gene engineering to introduce synthetic molecules, such as chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) into T cells allowing them to recognize and destroy a patient’s own cancer.