• Saar Gill and David L Porter.
• University of Pennsylvania, Abramson Cancer Center, Perelman School of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine , Philadelphia, PA 19106 , USA david.porter@uphs.upenn.edu.
• Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2014 Jan 1; 14 (1): 37-49.

IntroductionMalignancies of the B lymphocyte or its precursor include B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma as well as chronic and acute lymphoid leukemias. These are among the most common hematologic malignancies and many patients with B-cell malignancies are incurable. Although most patients initially respond to first-line treatment, relapse is frequent and is associated with a poor prognosis. T cells that are genetically engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) recognizing the B-cell-associated molecule CD19 have emerged as a potentially potent and exciting therapeutic modality in recent years.Areas CoveredThis review explores the current peer-reviewed publications in the field and a discussion of expert opinion.Expert OpinionGenetic engineering of T cells has become clinically feasible and appears to be safe. Here we provide an insight into the process of patient selection, engineered T-cell production, infusion procedure, expected toxicities and efficacy of this exciting approach as it is practiced in the treatment of B-cell malignancies. Anti-CD19-redirected T cells likely represent the vanguard of an exciting new approach to treating cancer.

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