Ireland’s first clinical trial for cell therapy to treat multiple myeloma launches at St James’s Hospital

Ireland’s first clinical trial for cell therapy to treat multiple myeloma launches at St James’s Hospital

Ireland’s first ever clinical trial for a cell therapy to treat multiple myeloma launched at St James’s Hospital on Wednesday, 1 February, 2023. CARTITUDE-5 is a multicentre global study, and is seeking to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CAR-T as a frontline therapy in people newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)T-cell therapy is a highly personalised technology that sees a patient’s own T-cells reprogrammed to attack and kill cancer cells. This process involves the collection of a specific type of white blood cells, called T-cells, from a patient’s blood and then genetically modifying them in a laboratory, before transfusing them back into the patient to fight the cancer.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable form of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow, and more commonly affects people over the age of 65. It is the second-most common blood cancer, with an estimated 2,200 people living with the disease in Ireland. Despite significant treatment advances in recent years, unmet needs still remain.

The CARTITUDE-5 study is the first to evaluate CAR-T as a frontline therapy in newly diagnosed patients. The trial is spearheaded by Dr Larry Bacon, Consultant Haematologist and Clinical Lead for Ireland’s National Adult CAR-T Centre, located at St James’s Hospital. The study will be performed in collaboration with the Welcome HRB Clinical Research Facility at St James’s Hospital, which is providing specialised infrastructure, nursing and research pharmacy support.

This study has been made possible in Ireland thanks to a major collaboration between the Haematology, Oncology and Palliative Care (HOPe) Directorate at St James’s Hospital along with the hospital’s medical, nursing, cryobiology laboratory, pharmacy and corporate teams, and the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, along with industry, the Department of Health, HPRA and the NCCP.

The CARTITUDE-5 study is now open for enrolment. If you require further information, please contact CARTITUDE-5Clinicaltrial@stjames.ie.