CAR T-Cell Therapy Targeting GPRC5D Antigen Proves Effective in First Trial in Patients with Resistant Multiple Myeloma

“CAR T-cell therapies targeting BCMA [the B cell maturation antigen] ­– a protein prevalent on immune system B cells – have shown promise in advanced myeloma, but many patients relapse,” says Eric L. Smith, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber, the co-senior author of the study with Renier Brentjens, MD, PhD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We developed CAR T cells targeting an antigen that we identified – called G protein-coupled receptor, class C group 5 member D, or GPRC5D – which were effective in the laboratory against myeloma cells and in animal models of the disease, including those that no longer responded to BCMA-targeting CAR T cells. Our phase 1 study represents the first time this second-generation CAR T-cell therapy has been tested in patients.”