Chimeric antigen receptor T cells to target CD79b in B-cell lymphomas

BACKGROUND: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting CD19 mediate potent and durable effects in B-cell malignancies. However, antigen loss or downregulation is a frequent cause of resistance. Here, we report development of a novel CAR T-cell therapy product to target CD79b, a pan B-cell antigen, widely expressed in most B-cell lymphomas. METHODS: We generated a novel anti-CD79b monoclonal antibody by hybridoma method. The specificity of the antibody was determined by testing against isogenic cell lines with human CD79b knock-in or knock-out. A single-chain variable fragment derived from the monoclonal antibody was used to make a panel of CD79b-targeting CAR molecules containing various hinge, transmembrane, and co-stimulatory domains. These were lentivirally transduced into primary T cells and tested for antitumor activity in in vitro and in vivo B-cell lymphoma models. RESULTS: We found that the novel anti-CD79b monoclonal antibody was highly specific and bound only to human CD79b and no other cell surface protein. In testing the various CD79b-targeting CAR molecules, superior antitumor efficacy in vitro and in vivo was found for a CAR consisting CD8α hinge and transmembrane domains, an OX40 co-stimulatory domain, and a CD3ζ signaling domain. This CD79b CAR specifically recognized human CD79b-expressing lymphoma cell lines but not CD79b knock-out cell lines. CD79b CAR T cells, generated from T cells from either healthy donors or patients with lymphoma, proliferated, produced cytokines, degranulated, and exhibited robust cytotoxic activity in vitro against CD19(+) and CD19(–) lymphoma cell lines and patient-derived lymphoma tumors relapsing after prior CD19 CAR T-cell therapy. Furthermore, CD79b CAR T cells were highly efficient at eradicating pre-established lymphoma tumors in vivo in three aggressive lymphoma xenograft models, including two cell line-derived xenografts and one patient-derived xenograft. Notably, these CAR T cells did not demonstrate any significant tonic signaling activity or markers of exhaustion. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that this novel CD79b CAR T-cell therapy product has robust antitumor activity against B-cell lymphomas. These results supported initiation of a phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate this product in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphomas.