ASCP IO Education Fills the Knowledge Gap on CAR T-Cell Therapy

Publication Date: May 29, 2019

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is the most clinically advanced of the adoptive cell transfer therapies, an emerging, innovative immunotherapy approach that involves collecting and using a patient’s own immune cells to treat their cancer.

The clinical laboratory is expected to play an important role in managing patients undergoing CAR T-cell therapy. Community pathologists and medical laboratory professionals especially need to be well versed on this therapy in order to recognize side effects that patients may experience from this therapy.

ASCP is offering a short, 30-minute “Introduction to CAR T-Cell Therapy” CME webcast as part of its popular Immuno-oncology (IO) Scientific Updates series to address this gap. This webcast provides learners with a basic understanding of CAR T-cell biology and design, current targets, the manufacturing process, and future directions.

At present, most patients receive CAR T-cell therapy at major academic medical centers. They then return home to see their primary care physicians, who need to be aware that their patients have had CAR T-cell treatment.

“Community physicians need to be familiar with the adverse effects that are related to CAR T-cell treatment,” says Michael C. Milone, MD, PhD, FASCP, a pioneer in the use of adoptive cellular therapy and a member of the ASCP Immuno-oncology (IO) Work Group.

One of the most severe side effects is cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which can be life threatening.

“CRS is a very intense inflammatory process that looks a lot like a syndrome that pathologists would be very familiar with, hemoragocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). It’s a severe case of uncontrolled inflammation driven by T-cells,” Dr. Milone says. “We’re getting better at treating it, and there are new interventions under development to prevent it.” While CRS typically occurs 1-2 weeks after treatment, onset more than a month after therapy, when patients may be back in their community, have occurred. Patients treated with CD19-specific CAR T cell therapy may also be left with a persistent deficiency of normal B cells.

Recognizing that CAR T-cell therapy has quickly shifted the treatment paradigm in certain blood cancers, the ASCP IO Work Group has recently added it to its IO Education Strategy. ASCP is currently seeking funding for the development of additional education to provide pathologists and laboratory professionals with an understanding of:

The biology of CAR T-cell therapy
Patient collection procedures (e.g., collection, packaging, tracking and shipping, etc.)
Diagnosis and management of CRS after CAR T-cell therapy
Future indications for CAR T-cell therapy

As IO research evolves, ASCP’s IO Work Group will continue to oversee the design and production of education materials in a variety of ways, through online courses, webcasts, live meetings, quality improvement projects and more. The collective expertise of the work group members, combined with the education developed by ASCP as a part of its IO strategy, ensures that ASCP members stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving landscape.

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