Why do some CAR-T cancer patients have severe complications? Data points to latent virus
Researchers identify a cause of a rare, serious complication of CAR-T cancer therapy, but stress that the complication is treatable and that CAR-T remains a lifesaving option.
The therapy, an infusion of CAR-T cells designed to kill the lymphoma, was going well. Nearly a month after the treatment, the engineered cells had crushed the cancer, and the patient, a 49-year-old woman in the Netherlands, appeared to be cancer-free. But two weeks later, something was wrong. The patient couldn’t remember having been in the hospital or, indeed, ever being treated for lymphoma. When she returned to the hospital, a scan showed parts of her brain were swelling.
The patient had experienced a rare complication stemming from a common herpes virus infection, HHV-6. While researchers are still puzzling out the cause of the complication, new research suggests that a key CAR-T manufacturing step can reactivate HHV-6 in T cells. The work, published in Nature on Wednesday, showed that this reactivated HHV-6 is present in some approved CAR-T products.
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