Dr. Munshi on the Current Landscape of CAR T-Cell Therapy in Multiple Myeloma

Nikhil C. Munshi, MD, director of Basic and Correlative Science, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Kraft Family Chair, senior physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses the role of CAR T-cell therapy in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

In terms of developing CAR T cells, multiple myeloma ​has lagged behind leukemia and lymphoma, says Munshi. CD19 is the primary target for CAR T-cell therapy in leukemia and lymphoma compared with BCMA, which is the primary target for the modality in multiple myeloma. 

This appears to be due to the specificity of the disease and the lack of toxicity in the surrounding tissue. BCMA is necessary for myeloma cell growth, says Munshi. Moreover, BCMA is highly expressed on the surface of multiple myeloma cells, making it a promising target in myeloma, concludes Munshi.