What is CAR-T cell therapy?

— Autologous live reprogrammed T cell therapy — Patients are treated with their own T cells transfected with a CAR — CAR: Chimeric Antigen Receptor = scFv fragment of a specific Ab (VH+VL) + a trans-membrane region anchoring scFv to the cell membrane One or more intra-cellular signaling domains containing ITAM, that activate the T cell upon Ag binding — Advantage: — Ag binding by Ab-binding site, not TCR: no need for APC, no MHC restriction — Higher number of specific T cells — Intracellular signaling domains overcome suppresive microenvironment