Advances in CAR T-cell therapy for treating patients with mantle cell lymphoma: a critical appraisal

CAR T-cell (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) has shown encouraging outcomes in the treatment of several cancers, including mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) that is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) which begins in the lymph nodes. It is distinguished by cyclin D1 protein overexpression caused by a chromosomal translocation between the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus (IGH) and Cyclin D1 (CCND1) gene. In the case of MCL, excessive CCND1 is produced by B cells that are abnormal. Notably, CCND1 helps in the growth of B cells. Clinical characterization of
MCL is done by its heterogeneity nature. The course of the disease
ranges from indolent cases for which therapy is not essential for
years to MCL that is highly aggressive in nature (requiring treatment), with the prognosis very limited. New targeted immunotherapy-based approaches, viz., CAR T-cell therapy, have
already facilitated the improvement of the therapeutic options,
particularly for the refractory or relapsing disease[1].
CAR T-cell treatment includes genetically altering a patient’s
own T cells to express a tumor-associated antigen-specific chimeric
antigen receptor. Then, the CAR T cells are injected back into the
patient, where they distinguish and kill cancer cells expressing
specific antigens (Fig. 1). Notably, advanced immunotherapy with
the use of CAR T cells is found to be fruitful for patients who suffer
from MCL. Importantly, in comparison to other drugs that exist,
CAR T-cell therapy is found to be successful in managing MCL
resistance[2]. A feasible approach in the case of MCL that is re