Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy is an advanced form of immunotherapy in which a patient’s T-cells are genetically engineered with the help of viral vectors to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), enabling them to recognize and eliminate cancer cells. CAR-T therapy has demonstrated significant efficacy in haematological malignancies like B-cell lymphoma, B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and multiple myeloma. This therapy was first approved by the FDA in 2017, and by the EMA in 2018.
Common adverse effects associated with CAR-T therapy mostly include acute conditions like cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and CAR-T cell-related encephalopathy (CRES), making early detection crucial. This therapy’s limitations consist of limited efficacy in solid tumours, its high cost of manufacturing, and the complexity of T-cell genetic modification. Despite these obstacles, CAR-T therapy is often used as a last resort for patients with relapsed/ refractory hematologic malignancies for whom previous treatment has failed.