Article
作者: Fang, Dexing ; Qazilbash, Muzaffar H. ; Shpall, Elizabeth J. ; Banerjee, Pinaki P. ; Gilbert, April L. ; Li, Ping ; Acharya, Sunil ; Lee, Hans C. ; Daher, May ; Rezvani, Katayoun ; Champlin, Richard E. ; Melo Garcia, Luciana ; Nunez Cortes, Ana Karen ; Lin, Paul ; Zhang, Chenyu ; Shrestha, Rejeena ; Muniz-Feliciano, Luis ; Uprety, Nadima ; Jones, Corry M. ; Patel, Krina K. ; Deyter, Gary M. ; Rawal, Seema ; Moreno Rueda, Luz Yurany ; Orlowski, Robert Z. ; Basar, Rafet ; Reyes-Silva, Francia ; Marin, David ; Woods, Vernikka ; Lin, Pei
Abstract:CD70 is highly expressed in many cancers, including multiple myeloma. We show in two cohorts of patients with multiple myeloma that CD70 is elevated in several high-risk disease categories and correlates with poor survival. These findings were validated using single-cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, and IHC. Moreover, we demonstrate the feasibility of targeting CD70 in myeloma using NK cells engineered with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) incorporating the CD70 cognate receptor CD27 and IL-15 (CAR27/IL-15). CAR27/IL-15 NK cells exerted potent in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity against CD70+ multiple myeloma cells, comparable with CAR27/IL-15 T cells, and remained effective in BCMA knockout models. Collectively, these results establish CD70 as a promising therapeutic target for high-risk multiple myeloma, particularly for patients who relapse after BCMA-directed therapy, providing preclinical support for the ongoing phase I/II clinical trial of CD70-targeting CAR NK cells (NCT05092451).
Significance::We demonstrate that CD70 expression is elevated in patients with high-risk multiple myeloma and in patients with t(4;14) translocation. CD70-targeting CAR NK cells exhibit potent cytotoxicity against CD70+ multiple myeloma cells and significantly improve survival in xenograft mouse models of multiple myeloma, even in the absence of BCMA expression.See related commentary by Benson Jr and Caligiuri, p. 166