{"id":46754,"date":"2024-08-27T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/news-events\/cancer-currents-blog\/2024\/fda-tecelra-synovial-sarcoma-mage-a4"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:11:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:11:48","slug":"fda-approves-engineered-cell-therapy-for-advanced-synovial-sarcoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/fda-approves-engineered-cell-therapy-for-advanced-synovial-sarcoma\/","title":{"rendered":"FDA Approves Engineered Cell Therapy for Advanced Synovial Sarcoma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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T-cell receptor therapy uses an enhanced form of a T-cell receptor, or TCR, to bind to HLA-presenting antigens (protein fragments) on cancer cells. After binding, the T cells can then kill the cancer cells.<\/p>\n

Credit: Adapted with permission from Adaptimmune<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

On August 2, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a cellular therapy called afamitresgene autoleucel, or afami-cel (Tecelra), to treat some people with metastatic synovial sarcoma, a type of soft tissue sarcoma. The decision marks the first time the agency has approved a treatment called a T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy for cancer.<\/p>\n

Afami-cel is made using a patient\u2019s own T cells, a type of immune cell. The T cells are collected from a patient\u2019s blood, genetically engineered in a lab, and then infused back into the person. The genetic engineering produces a T-cell receptor that is better able to recognize and bind to a protein called MAGE-A4 in cancer cells.<\/p>\n

Afami-cel is approved for patients who have been treated with chemotherapy and whose tumors test positive for the presence of MAGE-A4 and certain types of HLA<\/a> proteins.<\/p>\n

The approval was based on a clinical trial that included 44 people with metastatic synovial sarcoma. The therapy shrank tumors in 19 participants (43%), and the median duration of response\u2014how long the treatment kept tumors from growing\u2014was 6 months. The trial was sponsored by the drug\u2019s maker, Adaptimmune.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfami-cel will be the new standard treatment for patients with metastatic synovial sarcoma who are eligible for the therapy,\u201d said Sandra D\u2019Angelo, M.D., of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who led the trial.<\/p>\n

She noted that afami-cel is similar to chimeric antigen receptor<\/a> (CAR) T-cell therapies that have been approved for treating certain blood cancers since 2017. \u201cWith both CAR T and T-cell receptor therapies, we are giving immune cells the ability to fight cancer,\u201d Dr. D\u2019Angelo said.<\/p>\n