Presentation description

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy in bone marrow and is the second most common hematological malignancy. Conventional treatments such as proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, and monoclonal antibodies have provided substantial benefits to MM patients; however, MM remains incurable due to drug resistance.

A promising target for therapeutic intervention is G protein-coupled receptor, class C, group 5 member D (GPRC5D), a protein that is highly expressed on the surface of malignant plasma cells but absent in healthy tissue, except in hair follicles. This restricted expression on healthy tissue makes GPRC5D an ideal target for cell-based immunotherapies.

This project focuses on the development of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy that specifically targets GPRC5D-expressing cells. CAR T cell therapy is an emerging cancer treatment that involves genetically modifying a patient's T cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells. By engineering CAR T cells to detect GPRC5D, we aim to eliminate multiple myeloma cells while minimizing off-target effects selectively.