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Review
. 2021 Apr 15;13(4):e14494.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.14494.

A Systematic Review of the Role of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) Cell Therapy in the Treatment of Solid Tumors

Raheel S Siddiqui  1 , Muhammad Sardar  2
Affiliations
Review

A Systematic Review of the Role of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) Cell Therapy in the Treatment of Solid Tumors

Raheel S Siddiqui et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy utilizes patients' own T lymphocytes that are engineered to attack cancer cells. It is Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved in various hematological malignancies and currently being evaluated in solid cancers in early phase studies. We did a systematic review consisting of 15 prospective clinical trials (n=159) evaluating CAR-T cells in solid cancers. Early phase trials showed promising response rates in ovarian epithelial cancer (100%), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive sarcoma (67%), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive biliary tract cancer (65%), advanced gastric/pancreatic cancer (82%), hepatocellular carcinoma (67%), and colorectal cancer (70%). The median overall response across all malignancies was 62% (range 17%-100%). Median progression-free survival and overall survival were not reached in most trials. Cytokine release syndrome was seen in only one patient with cholangiocarcinoma who received EGFR-specific CAR-T cell therapy. Although survival data is still not mature, CAR-T cell therapy in solid malignancies did show encouraging response rates and was well-tolerated.

Keywords: car-t; chimeric antigen receptor (car) t-cell; solid tumor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram
PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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