CAR T cells equipped with a fully human scFv targeting Trop2 can be used to treat pancreatic cancer

作者:Zhu, Hongjia; Fang, Xiaoyan; Tuhin, Israth Jahan; Tan, Jingwen; Ye, Jing; Jia, Yujie; Xu, Nan; Kang, Liqing; Li, Minghao; Lou, XiaoYan; Zhou, Jing-E; Wang, Yiting*; Yan, Zhiqiang*; Yu, Lei*
来源:Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 2022, 148(9): 2261-2274.
DOI:10.1007/s00432-022-04017-x

摘要

Purpose Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has demonstrated clinical success in treating haematologic malignancies but has not been effective against solid tumours thus far. Trop2 is a tumour-related antigen broadly overexpressed on a variety of tumours and has been reported as a promising target for pancreatic cancers. Our study aimed to determine whether CAR T cells designed with a fully human Trop2-specific single-chain fragment variable (scFv) can be used in the treatment of Trop2-positive pancreatic tumours. Methods We designed Trop2-targeted chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cells with a novel human anti-Trop2 scFv (2F11) and then investigated the cytotoxicity, degranulation, and cytokine secretion profiles of the anti-Trop2 CAR T cells when they were exposed to Trop2 + cancer cells in vitro. We also studied the antitumour efficacy and toxicity of Trop2-specific CAR T cells in vivo using a BxPC-3 pancreatic xenograft model. Results Trop2-targeted CAR T cells designed with 2F11 effectively killed Trop2-positive pancreatic cancer cells and produced high levels of cytotoxic cytokines in vitro. In addition, Trop2-targeted CAR T cells, which persistently circulate in vivo and efficiently infiltrate into tumour tissues, significantly blocked and even eliminated BxPC-3 pancreatic xenograft tumour growth without obvious deleterious effects observed after intravenous injection into NSG mice. Moreover, disease-free survival was efficiently prolonged. Conclusion These results show that Trop2-targeted CAR T cells equipped with a fully human anti-Trop2 scFv could be a potential treatment strategy for pancreatic cancer and could be useful for clinical evaluation.