Antitumor activity of EGFR-specific CAR T cells against non-small-cell lung cancer cells in vitro and in mice PMID: 29415996

ADC Targets in Oncology

2026-04-10

Antitumor activity of EGFR-specific CAR T cells against non-small-cell lung cancer cells in vitro and in mice

Cell Death Dis. 2018 Feb 7;9(2):177. doi: 10.1038/s41419-017-0238-6.

He Li ¹ , Yao Huang ² , Du-Qing Jiang ³ , Lian-Zhen Cui ³ , Zhou He ³ , Chao Wang ³ , Zhi-Wei Zhang ³ , Hai-Li Zhu ⁴ , Yong-Mei Ding ⁵ , Lin-Fang Li ³ ⁴ , Qiang Li ⁶ ⁷ , Hua-Jun Jin ⁸ ⁹ , Qi-Jun Qian ¹⁰ ¹¹ ¹²

Affiliations

1. Departments of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China.
2. Department of Biliary Tract Surgery I, The Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China.
3. Shanghai Cell Therapy Research Institute, 201805, Shanghai, China.
4. Laboratory of Gene and Viral Therapy, The Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China.
5. Department of Biotherapy, The Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China.
6. Departments of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
7. Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, 200080, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
8. Shanghai Cell Therapy Research Institute, 201805, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
9. Laboratory of Gene and Viral Therapy, The Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
10. Shanghai Cell Therapy Research Institute, 201805, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
11. Laboratory of Gene and Viral Therapy, The Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
12. Department of Biotherapy, The Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, 200438, Shanghai, China. [email protected].

Abstract

Effective control of non-small-cell lung Cancer (NSCLC) remains clinically challenging, especially during advanced stages of the disease. This study developed an adoptive T-cell treatment through expression of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to target human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in NSCLC. We optimized the non-viral piggyBac transposon system to engineer human T cells for the expression of EGFR-CAR, consisting of EGFR scFv, transmembrane domain, and intracellular 4-1BB-CD3ζ signaling domains. The modified CAR T cells exhibited expansion capability and Anticancer efficacy in a time- and antigen-dependent manner in vitro as well as regression of EGFR-positive human lung Cancer xenografts in vivo. EGFR-CAR T therapy is a promising strategy to improve the efficacy and potency of the adoptive immunotherapy in NSCLC. Moreover, EGFR-CAR T therapy could become a clinical application for NSCLC patients in the future.