Results from the phase 1a/b TRAVERSE trial suggest that ALLO-316, an off-the-shelf CAR T-cell therapy targeting CD70, may be a promising treatment for patients with advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). The study included 51 heavily pretreated patients whose cancer had progressed after checkpoint inhibitors and VEGFR-targeted therapies.
In the phase 1b group, ALLO-316 achieved an objective response rate of 25%, which increased to 31.3% in patients whose tumors had high CD70 expression. Patients with low or no CD70 expression did not respond, showing that CD70 may be an important biomarker for selecting patients most likely to benefit. Median overall survival was 15.2 months in the phase 1b group.
Most patients experienced blood-related side effects, including low white blood cell counts, neutropenia, and anemia. Severe cytokine release syndrome was rare, and no severe neurotoxicity was reported. After researchers added closer monitoring and the drug ruxolitinib to manage immune-related complications, no treatment-related deaths occurred in the final 20 patients. These findings support further development of ALLO-316 for selected patients with advanced kidney cancer.