Piotr Wysocki: CAR-T cells targeting CD70 for renal cell cancer – promising results of a phase I COBALT-RCC study (AACR2024)

Piotr Wysocki, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Department of Oncology at Jagiellonian University Hospital, shared on LinkedIn:

“CD70 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily 7 (TNFSF7). It is highly expressed in renal cell cancer (RCC), especially in clear-cell and sarcomatoid histology, making it a promising immunogenic target. Sumanta K. Pal has presented results of a phase I, multicenter, first-in-human clinical trial (COBALT-RCC) evaluating the activity of immunotherapy based on CD70-targeting allogenic CAR-T cells in 16 patients with relapsed/refractory clear-cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC). All patients were previously treated with immunotherapy and anti-VEGF agents.

All patients (median age 63) had undergone lymphodepletion (cytarabine and cyclophosphamide) and received CAR-T cells (1-3 infusions).

Cytokine release syndrome (CRS of grade 1-2) was observed in 8 (50%) patients, and there were no grade  ≥3 CRS events (Table  2). Four (25%) patients experienced serious adverse events (CRS). The median time to CRS onset was 1 day, with a median duration of 2 days. No patients experienced immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) or Graft vs Host Disease.

The CAR-T cell treatment resulted in disease control in 13 (81%) patients, including 12 patients with disease stabilization and 1 patient (6%) with complete response. The patient experiencing CR remains disease-free at 3 years.

The results of COBALT-RCC study provide promising data demonstrating that CAR-T cell-based therapy can be active in patients with solid cancer and may lead to long-term complete response in some patients with ccRCC.”

Additional information.
Source: Piotr Wysocki/LinkedIn