Cancer immunotherapy is one of the most important treatment advances in oncology in a generation.
Bispecific antibodies, CAR-T therapies, checkpoint inhibitors: these are drugs that have transformed outcomes for patients with blood cancers who previously had very limited options. The problem is that they come with a serious catch.
Cytokine release syndrome, known as CRS, is an inflammatory overreaction that occurs when the immune system goes into overdrive following treatment. Think of it as the body responding so aggressively to the cancer threat that it starts attacking healthy tissue. In severe cases it causes organ failure and can be fatal.
More broadly, it creates a capacity problem: patients need close monitoring in specialist hospital settings, tying up beds and limiting how widely these drugs can be used.
Some of the world's biggest cancer treatments induce the side-effect. Tecvayli, J&J's bispecific antibody for multiple myeloma, triggers CRS in around 72 per cent of patients.
