# Safety and clinical outcomes of a first-in-human trial of point-of-care manufactured trispecific CAR T cells targeting CD19, CD20, and CD22

**Authors:** Sumithira Vasu, Nathan Denlinger, No-Joon Song, Danielle Elsberry, Qiuhong Zhao, Lianbo Yu, Evandro Bezerra, Nicole Szuminski, Dina Schneider, Pradyot Dash, Louisa Wirthlin, Narendranath Epperla, Yazeed Sawalha, Jennifer Woyach, Shamama Nishat, Kerry Rogers, Seema Bhat, Hazem Ghoneim, Greg Behbehani, Timothy Voorhees, Karilyn Larkin, Adam Kittai, Victoria Churchill, Elizabeth George, Margaret Lamb, Dean Lee, Wing Chan, Ashley Krull, Rimas Orentas, Lynn O’Donnell, Zihai Li, Lapo Alinari, Marcos de Lima

PMC · DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8605291/v1 · Research Square · 2026-02-09

## TL;DR

A first-in-human trial of trispecific CAR T cells targeting three B-cell antigens showed safety and promising responses in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies.

## Contribution

This study introduces and evaluates the safety and efficacy of a novel trispecific CAR T cell therapy targeting CD19, CD20, and CD22.

## Key findings

- Trispecific CAR T cells demonstrated safety with no severe cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity.
- An overall response rate of 50% was observed, with 83% complete responses in lymphoma patients.
- Durable remissions were observed in lymphoma patients with a one-year survival rate of 61%.

## Abstract

Disease recurrence is the main cause of treatment failure after CD19-directed CAR T cells and is often due to CD19 antigen loss, stability and/or coverage. To overcome single-antigen escape, we evaluated a trispecific CAR targeting CD19, CD20, and CD22 with OX40 co-stimulatory domain. Preclinical studies demonstrated potent, antigen-specific cytotoxicity in both in vitro and in vivo lymphoma models. We then conducted a first-in-human phase I trial in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies. Fifteen patients received fresh infusions at a median vein to vein time of 7 days, at doses of 0.5–2×106 cells/kg. No severe cytokine release syndrome nor immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome occurred. Overall response rate was 50%, including complete responses in 83% of lymphoma patients. One-year overall survival rate was 61%, with durable remissions observed in lymphoma. CAR T expansion did not correlate with dose or response. T-cell exhaustion in apheresis cells correlated with progressive disease. Trispecific CAR T cells are safe and potentially active in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

## Linked entities

- **Proteins:** CD19 (CD19 molecule), MS4A1 (membrane spanning 4-domains A1), CD22 (CD22 molecule), TNFRSF4 (TNF receptor superfamily member 4)
- **Diseases:** non-Hodgkin lymphoma (MONDO:0018908)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** HAVCR2 (hepatitis A virus cellular receptor 2) [NCBI Gene 84868] {aka CD366, HAVcr-2, KIM-3, SPTCL, TIM3, TIMD-3}, APC (APC regulator of Wnt signaling pathway) [NCBI Gene 324] {aka BTPS2, DESMD, DP2, DP2.5, DP3, GS}, PTPRC (protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type C) [NCBI Gene 5788] {aka B220, CD45, CD45R, GP180, IMD105, L-CA}, KRT20 (keratin 20) [NCBI Gene 54474] {aka CD20, CK-20, CK20, K20, KRT21}, TCF7 (transcription factor 7) [NCBI Gene 6932] {aka TCF-1}, CD2 (CD2 molecule) [NCBI Gene 914] {aka LFA-2, SRBC, T11}, ENTPD1 (ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1) [NCBI Gene 953] {aka ATP-DPH, ATPDase, CD39, NTPDase-1, SPG64}, GATA3 (GATA binding protein 3) [NCBI Gene 2625] {aka HDR, HDRS}, PTBP2 (polypyrimidine tract binding protein 2) [NCBI Gene 58155] {aka PTBLP, brPTB, nPTB}, IRF4 (interferon regulatory factor 4) [NCBI Gene 3662] {aka IMD131, LSIRF, MUM1, NF-EM5, SHEP8}, TRBV20OR9-2 (T cell receptor beta variable 20/OR9-2 (non-functional)) [NCBI Gene 6962] {aka CDR3, TCRBV20S2, TCRBV2O, TCRBV2S2O}, IL15 (interleukin 15) [NCBI Gene 3600] {aka IL-15}, CXADRP1 (CXADR pseudogene 1) [NCBI Gene 653108] {aka CAR, CXADRP}, TNFRSF4 (TNF receptor superfamily member 4) [NCBI Gene 7293] {aka ACT35, CD134, IMD16, OX40, TXGP1L}, TBX21 (T-box transcription factor 21) [NCBI Gene 30009] {aka IMD88, T-PET, T-bet, TBET, TBLYM}, TIGIT (T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains) [NCBI Gene 201633] {aka VSIG9, VSTM3, WUCAM}, CD8A (CD8 subunit alpha) [NCBI Gene 925] {aka CD8, CD8alpha, IMD116, Leu2, p32}, BCL2L1 (BCL2 like 1) [NCBI Gene 598] {aka BCL-XL/S, BCL2L, BCLX, Bcl-X, PPP1R52}, BCL2 (BCL2 apoptosis regulator) [NCBI Gene 596] {aka Bcl-2, PPP1R50}, CD247 (CD247 molecule) [NCBI Gene 919] {aka CD3-ZETA, CD3H, CD3Q, CD3Z, CD3ZETA, IMD25}, CTLA4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4) [NCBI Gene 1493] {aka ALPS5, CD, CD152, CELIAC3, CTLA-4, GRD4}, TOX (thymocyte selection associated high mobility group box) [NCBI Gene 9760] {aka TOX1}, GZMB (granzyme B) [NCBI Gene 3002] {aka C11, CCPI, CGL-1, CGL1, CSP-B, CSPB}, CD5 (CD5 molecule) [NCBI Gene 921] {aka LEU1, T1}, ICOS (inducible T cell costimulator) [NCBI Gene 29851] {aka AILIM, CD278, CVID1}, CD22 (CD22 molecule) [NCBI Gene 933] {aka SIGLEC-2, SIGLEC2}, CD19 (CD19 molecule) [NCBI Gene 930] {aka B4, CVID3}, IL7 (interleukin 7) [NCBI Gene 3574] {aka IL-7, IMD130}, CD4 (CD4 molecule) [NCBI Gene 920] {aka CD4mut, IMD79, Leu-3, OKT4D, T4}
- **Diseases:** SD (MESH:D012735), Tumor (MESH:D009369), B-PLL (MESH:D054403), neurotoxicity (MESH:D020258), CLL (MESH:D015451), HLH (MESH:D051359), disease (MESH:D004194), ERC (MESH:C580055), CR (MESH:D001766), B cell NHL (MESH:D015448), hematologic malignancies (MESH:D019337), respiratory distress (MESH:D012128), paralysis (MESH:D010243), PR (MESH:D004828), B-ALL (MESH:D015456), Cytotoxicity (MESH:D064420), weight loss (MESH:D015431), bone marrow (MESH:D001855), ICANS (MESH:C000722498), Leukemia (MESH:D007938), or peripheral blood disease (MESH:D006402), death (MESH:D003643), follicular lymphoma (MESH:D008224), Richter's (MESH:C537025), DLTs (MESH:D045745), prolymphocytic leukemia (MESH:D015463), MCL (MESH:D020522), DLBCL (MESH:D016403), NHL (MESH:D008228), PD (MESH:D018450), NTT (MESH:C536209), B-NHL (MESH:D016393), CRS (MESH:D000080424), Lymphoma (MESH:D008223)
- **Chemicals:** cel (MESH:C054688), 7-AAD (MESH:C025942), His (MESH:D006639), tocilizumab (MESH:C502936), cyclophosphamide (MESH:D003520), Biotin (MESH:D001710), Tris AC (MESH:C010642), fludarabine (MESH:C024352), GAG (MESH:D006025), DL3 (-), heparan sulfate (MESH:D006497), PBS (MESH:D007854), CO2 (MESH:D002245)
- **Species:** Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090], Hysterothylacium sp. SA (species) [taxon 1884613], Mycoplasma (genus) [taxon 2093], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]
- **Mutations:** 1-10 C with His
- **Cell lines:** NTT — Homo sapiens (Human), Transformed cell line (CVCL_XX84)

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919200/full.md

## Figures

5 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919200/full.md

## References

56 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919200/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919200