Afamitresgene autoleucel for advanced synovial sarcoma or myxoid/round cell liposarcoma


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Therapeutic Areas: Sarcoma
Year: 2021

Afamitresgene autoleucel is in clinical development for the treatment of advanced synovial sarcoma or myxoid/round cell liposarcoma (MRCLS) in patients who have previously had chemotherapy. Both synovial sarcoma and MRCLS are two different types of soft tissue sarcomas (STS), a rare form of cancer that develops in the tissues that connect, support and surround other body structures and organs. Advanced synovial sarcoma or MRCLS means that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Currently there are limited therapies available for these patients, so there is a need to develop additional treatment options.
Afamitresgene autoleucel is a medicinal product designed using a patient’s own T-cells (a type of white blood cell). The T-cell is genetically modified so that it produces a protein that attaches to a protein known as MAGE-A4. MAGE-A4 is found on cancerous cells in synovial sarcoma and MRCLS. When afamitresgene autoleucel is administered as a single intravenous infusion it recognises and attaches to MAGE-A4 cancerous cells via the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*02 protein which is found at the surface of the cancerous cells, and kills them. If licenced, afamitresgene autoleucel would offer an additional treatment option for advanced synovial sarcoma or MRCLS, and would be the first approved T-cell therapy for these patients.