Pilot Study of Autologous Anti-EGFRvIII CAR T Cells in Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells can mediate long-term durable remissions in recurrent or refractory CD19+ B cell malignancies, and are a promising therapy to treat glioblastoma, which is the most dangerous and aggressive form of brain cancer. EGFRvIII mutation (epidermal growth factor receptor variant III, EGFRvIII) is the results of tumor specific gene rearrangement naturally happened in about 30% of glioblastoma patients and produces a mutated protein with neo-antigen that is tumor specific and is not expressed in normal human tissues. Therefore, EGFRvIII is an attractive target for CAR T cell therapy. We have constructed a lentiviral vector that contains a chimeric antigen receptor that recognizes the EGFRvIII tumor antigen. A truncated EGFR (tEGFR) which lacks of the ligand binding domain and cytoplasmic kinase domain of wildtype EGFR is incorporated into the CAR vector and is used for in vivo tracking and ablation of CAR T cells in necessary. This pilot study is to determine the safety and efficacy of autologous anti-EGFRvIII CAR T cells in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.