Chimeric antigen-receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has repeatedly provided dramatic results in patients with hematologic malignancies.

Now comes the first success story of CAR T-cell therapy in a solid tumor — pancreatic cancer. Results were reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2015 Annual Meeting in Chicago.

It is too early to tell if this approach can replicate, for example, the impressive 70% complete response rates reported in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which were recently published (Lancet. 2015;385:517-528), as reported by Medscape Medical News