A research team led by Prof. Zhai Zhimin from Department of Hematology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of AHMU has recently published their clinical research findings concerning CAR-T Treatment of Leukemia in the world-renowned academic journal Nature Communications. It shows that domestic CAR-T treatment is comparable to the level of developed countries in Europe and America.
Fifty-one relapsed and refractory patients of acute leukemia were selected from 72 patients who consented to CAR-T treatment. Totally 47 patients aged from 3 to 72 successfully received CD19 CAR-T cell transfusion and curative effect evaluation. After nearly 5 years of careful treatment, follow-up observation and systematic analysis of the enrolled patients, it was found that the overall response rate was 81%, and the 1-year overall survival rate (OS) and relapse-free survival rate (RFS) were 53.0% and 45.0% respectively. This result is similar to that of the medical research centers in Europe and America. The key point is that the incidence of serious adverse reaction above grade 4 is only 6.4%, while what was reported stayed around 30% in Europe and America. It indicates that our CD19 CAR-T treatment is not only effective, but also safer.
The paper also explored the influence of patient on CAR-T treatment. It is reported for the first time that extramedullary invasion and highly inhibitory T-cell (Tregs) are the independent adverse factors affecting CAR-T treatment.
These research data and achievements are of great significance to further improve the quality of CAR-T cells, optimize the treatment mode, and promote the translation of CAR-T treatment into clinical application in China. Prof. Zhai was in charge of the project. Her research team cooperated closely with the key laboratory of Antibody Technology of National Health Committee of Nanjing Medical University and some biomedical companies.