The pronounced cytotoxic effects of chimeric antigen receptor T cells targeting B7-H3 in organoids and liver xenografts derived from colorectal cancer patients.

Background: The application of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells in solid tumors is hindered due to the lack of specific tumor antigen and limited clinical efficacy. Our aim is to develop and validate novel CAR-T cell therapy against metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: By analyzing the expression of B7-H3 in CRC tissue and cell lines using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and flow cytometry, respectively, we identified B7-H3 as a potential target in CRC. We thereby developed CAR-T cells targeting B7-H3 (B7-H3 CAR-T) and evaluated their anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo, using patient-derived organoids (PDOs) and xenograft (PDX) models to validate its translational potential.

Results: In our cohort of 170 CRC patients, B7-H3 was significantly upregulated in CRC tumors compared to paratumor tissue, as determined by IHC staining. When co-cultured with CRC cells or PDOs, B7-H3 CAR-T cells exhibited a dose-dependent cytotoxicity in vitro. Furthermore, B7-H3 CAR-T cells effectively controlled tumor growth and metastasis in vivo, significantly prolonging survival time for the tumor-burden mice through cytotoxic killing and potential immune regulatory effects, demonstrated in both CRC cell-based and PDX-based metastatic models.

Conclusions: These findings underscore the potential efficacy of B7-H3 CAR-T cells for treating metastatic CRC and highlight its translational value.