Novel cellular immunotherapies for hematological malignancies: recent updates from the 2021 ASH annual meeting

Abstract

Abstract Cellular immunotherapy, including the chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy and CAR- natural killer (CAR-NK) cell therapy, has undergone extensive clinical investigation and development in recent years. CAR-T cell therapy is now emerging as a powerful cancer therapy with enormous potential, demonstrating impressive anti-tumor activity in the treatment of hematological malignancies. At the 2021 ASH annual meeting, numerous breakthroughs were reported concerning acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), lymphoma, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and multiple myeloma (MM). Universal CAR-T cell and CAR-NK cell therapy, as well as induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived immunotherapy, offer great “off-the-shelf” benefits. Major development and updates of cellular immunotherapy for hematological malignancies reported at the 2021 ASH annual meeting are summarized in this review.

Keywords

• Hematological malignancies
• Cellular immunotherapy
• The 2021 ASH annual meeting
• Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)
• Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)