Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells with anti-CD19 specificity offer a highly effective, novel immune therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). But we need better information about Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS)—the most common severe toxicity we see after they undergo this targeted immunotherapy. The authors developed statistical models using patient characteristics at the time of and immediately following CTL019 therapy, to predict which patients would go on to develop severe CRS. These models accurately predicted which patients developed severe CRS—information that improves our understanding of CRS biology and may guide future cytokine-directed therapy.
Read the article in Cancer Discovery.