Selective response of CD5+ B cell malignancies to activation of the CD72 antigen

CAR-T Cells Shoot for New Targets: Novel Approaches to Boost Adoptive Cell Therapy for B Cell-Derived Malignancies

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is undeniably a promising tool in combating various types of hematological malignancies. However, it is not yet optimal and a significant number of patients experience a lack of response or relapse after the treatment. Therapy improvement requires careful analysis of the occurring problems and a deeper understanding of the reasons that stand behind them. In this review, we summarize the recent knowledge about CAR-T products' clinical performance and discuss diversified approaches taken to improve the major shortcomings of this therapy. Especially, we prioritize the challenges faced by CD19 CAR-T cell-based treatment of B cell-derived malignancies and revise the latest insights about mechanisms mediating therapy resistance. Since the loss of CD19 is one of the major obstacles to the success of CAR-T cell therapy, we present antigens that could be alternatively used for the treatment of various types of B cell-derived cancers.

Development of a murine model for blastoid variant mantle-cell lymphoma

Blastoid-variant mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL-BV), unlike most B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL-Bs), is refractory to conventional chemotherapy and associated with a very poor prognosis. Development of new therapies has been hampered by the lack of valid animal models. We have developed a novel murine model of MCL-BV by crossing interleukin 14alpha (IL-14alpha) transgenic mice with c-Myc transgenic mice (double transgenic [DTG]). IL-14alpha is a B-cell growth factor that is expressed in a number of high-grade lymphomas, including MCL-BV. Ninety-five percent of IL-14alpha transgenic mice develop CD5(+) large B-cell lymphomas by 18 months of age. Sixty percent of c-Myc transgenic mice develop pre-B-cell lymphomas by 12 months of age. Close to 100% of DTG mice develop an aggressive, rapidly fatal lymphoma at 3 to 4 months of age that is CD5(+), CD19(+), CD21(-), CD23(-), sIgM(+). The tumor is found in the blood, bone marrow, liver, spleen, lymph nodes, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs and rarely in the brain, similar to the involvement seen in human MCL-BV. Immunoglobulin gene rearrangements document the monoclonality of the tumor. Cyclin D1 is highly expressed in these tumors, as it is in MCL-BV. DTG represents a novel model for MCL-BV that should reveal important insights into the pathogenesis of the lymphoma and contribute to the development of new forms of therapy.