Industry Insights with Amrik Singh from Cell Signaling Technology In this interview with Amrik (Rik) Singh, PhD , immunology fellow at Cell Signaling Technology (CST) , Rik discusses the significant role of Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) in cancer immunotherapy. With a combination of technical insights and forward-looking perspectives, the interview also highlights challenges and emerging trends in the CAR field, including CST's development of novel anti-CAR linker antibodies for CAR detection. https://insidescientific.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Amrik-Singh-PhD.jpg LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW: This interview has been edited slightly for clarity.

First off, maybe you can explain the general concept of Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) and why they matter for cancer therapy.

Yeah, I'd be happy to. The overarching goal of cancer immunotherapy is to leverage the host immune system to direct anti-tumor responses. And in autologous platforms of adoptive self transfer that leverage a novel technology based upon chimeric antigen receptors or CARs, a patient's own immune cells are collected T cells are most commonly used in this platform and genetically modified to target the cancer cells. The cells are then reintroduced to the patient, allowing for the cells to circulate, hone in on malignant cells, and then attack them.

"Especially over the past several years, CAR T cells have really truly revolutionized the treatment of life-threatening blood cancers, and patients previously unresponsive to first-line therapies have gone into remission with CAR T therapy, with some even being cured."

Indeed, numerous patients receiving anti-CD19 as well as anti-BCMA CAR T therapy have achieved deep and durable responses. Generally speaking, at the molecular level, CARs are a novel class of signaling immunoreceptors and are derived from components of multiple immune receptor types. For example, the antigen recognition and signaling components of CARs often reside on the same chain, and they recognize native surface antigens which are