Car T Cell Therapy Side Effects

Another potential side effect of car t cell therapy an off target effect is a mass die off of b cells known as b cell aplasia.

Car t cell therapy side effects. Among patients treated with cd19 targeted car t cells for relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia cll or non hodgkin lymphoma nhl the most frequent late adverse event was hypogammaglobulinemia which occurred in 29 of 48 patients evaluated reported ana cordeiro md from the fred hutchinson cancer research center in seattle. Despite the therapeutic successes of car t cell therapy the intervention carries the risk of severe side effects. The car t cell targets the cd19 antigen on cancer cells. Car t cell therapy can cause a serious side effect known as cytokine release syndrome.

Car t cell therapy can trigger a range of side effects many of which begin subtly but can rapidly worsen. Some people have had serious side effects from this treatment especially as the car t cells multiply in the body to fight the cancer. These include neurotoxicity which can result in headache confusion and. Cd19 is also expressed on normal b cells which are responsible for producing antibodies that kill pathogens.

A potentially serious complication is cytokine release syndrome crs also known as a cytokine storm. When the modified t cells kill the tumor cells these then break into component parts and all the leftover gunk can be floating in your bloodstream. The most common type of neurologic side effect was delirium with maintained alertness 35 patients the team reported. Car t cell therapy side effects.

Because these side effects can be serious people who have car t cell therapy must be close to the site of their treatment for a period of time after they re released he adds. Neurotoxicity which occurred after car t cell infusion in 53 of the 133 trial participants is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of neurological symptoms. This syndrome is caused when the transferred t cells or other immune cells responding to the new t cells release a large amount of cytokines into the blood. Cytokines are immune substances that have many different functions in the body.

These normal b cells are also often killed by the infused car t cells. A remodeled car t cell therapy causes fewer neurologic side effects and is equally effective as the original form of the therapy according to results from the first clinical trial of the treatment in patients with b cell lymphomas.