Off-the-shelf EBV-specific T cell immunotherapy for rituximab-refractory EBV-associated lymphoma following transplantation

CONCLUSION Third-party EBV-CTLs of defined HLA restriction provide safe, immediately accessible treatment for EBV-PTLD). Secondary treatment with EBV-CTLs restricted by a different HLA allele (switch therapy) can also induce remissions if initial EBV-CTLs are ineffective. These results suggest a promising potential therapy for patients with rituximab-refractory EBV-associated lymphoma after transplantation.TRIAL REGISTRATION Phase II protocols (NCT01498484 and NCT00002663) were approved by the Institutional Review Board at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the FDA, and the National Marrow Donor Program.FUNDING This work was supported by NIH grants CA23766 and R21CA162002, the Aubrey Fund, the Claire Tow Foundation, the Major Family Foundation, the Max Cure Foundation, the Richard “Rick” J. Eisemann Pediatric Research Fund, the Banbury Foundation, the Edith Robertson Foundation, and the Larry Smead Foundation. Atara Biotherapeutics licensed the bank of third-party EBV-CTLs from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in June 2015.

Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation - January 6, 2020 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Susan Prockop, Ekaterina Doubrovina, Stephanie Suser, Glenn Heller, Juliet Barker, Parastoo Dahi, Miguel A. Perales, Esperanza Papadopoulos, Craig Sauter, Hugo Castro-Malaspina, Farid Boulad, Kevin J. Curran, Sergio Giralt, Boglarka Gyurkocza, Katharine C Source Type: research