For the monitoring of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, antigen-based CAR detection methods are usually applied. However, for each target-antigen, a separate detection system is required. Furthermore, when monitored CAR T-cells in the blood of patients treated with bispecific antibodies or T-cell engagers (bsAbs/BiTEs) recognize the same antigen, these methods produce false-positive results in clinical diagnostics. Anti-CAR-linker monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the linker sequence between the variable domains of the antigen binding CAR fragment promise a universal and unbiased CAR detection. To test this, we analyzed clinical specimens of all BCMA- and CD19-targeting CAR T-cell products currently approved for clinical use. We found a highly specific and sensitive CAR detection using anti-CAR-linker mAb in blood cells from patients treated with Ide-cel, Tisa-cel, Axi-cel, Brexu-cel, and Liso-cel. For Ide-cel and Tisa-cel, the sensitivity was significantly lower compared to that for antigen-based CAR detection assays. Strikingly, the specificity of anti-CAR linker mAb was not affected by the simultaneous presence of bispecific blinatumomab or teclistamab for Axi-cel, Brexu-cel, Liso-cel, or Ide-cel, respectively. Cilta-cel (containing a monomeric G4S-CAR linker) could not be detected by anti-CAR linker mAb. In conclusion, anti-CAR-linker mAbs are highly specific and useful for CAR T-cell monitoring but are not universally applicable.
Keywords: BiTE; CAR; CAR T-cell monitoring; anti-CAR-linker mAbs; bispecific antibody; combination treatments; detection; diagnostic.