The prognosis for glioblastoma (GBM) remains exceedingly poor despite state-of-the-art multimodal therapy. Immunotherapy, particularly with cytotoxic T cells, represents a promising alternative. Perhaps the most prominent T-cell technology is the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), which in 2017 received accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hematological malignancies. Several CARs for GBM have been recently tested in clinical trials with exciting results. The authors review these clinical data and discuss areas of ongoing research.
Keywords: ACT = adoptive cell transfer; CAR = chimeric antigen receptor; CNS = central nervous system; EGFRvIII = epidermal growth factor receptor variant III; EphA2 = erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular carcinoma A2; FDA = Food and Drug Administration; GBM = glioblastoma; HER2 = human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; HLA = human leukocyte antigen; IDO1 = indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1; IL-13Rα2 = interleukin receptor 13Rα2; PD-L1 = programmed cell death ligand 1; TCR = transgenic T-cell receptor; TIL = tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte; VST = virus-specific T cell; chimeric antigen receptor; glioblastoma; immunotherapy; scFv = single-chain antibody fragment.