Chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a common type of B cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorder in adults, has witnessed enormous development in its treatment in recent years. New drugs such as ibrutinib, idelalisib, and venetoclax have achieved great success in treating relapsed and refractory (R/R) CLL. In addition, with the development of immunotherapy, chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T cells (CAR-T) therapy, a novel adoptive immune treatment, has also become more and more important in treating R/R CLL. It combines the advantages of T cells and B cells via ex vivo gene transfer technology and is able to bind targets recognized by specific antibodies without antigen presentation, thus breaking the restriction of major histocompatibility complex. So far, there have been lots of studies exploring the application of CAR-T therapy in CLL. In this review, we describe the structure of chimeric antigen receptor, the preclinical, and clinical results of CAR-T therapy against CLL, along with its adverse events and advances in efficacy.