Newer biological agents: CAR T cells, PARP inhibitors, and ALK inhibitors

The oncology world is awash with a steady flow of new and exciting biologic agents and targeted immune therapies. Chimeric antigen receptor T cells are a new class of “living drugs” that are designed to reprogram T cells to target and kill tumor cells upon contact. Chimeric antigen receptor T cell treatment has yielded impressive results with respect to overall response rates and complete remission rates in patients with multiply relapsed and resistant leukemia and lymphoma. Drugs that target and inhibit the anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor and poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitor pathways are extending progression-free survival in subsets of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and ovarian tumors who harbor these mutations, respectively