CD3 is the switch on every T cell. Bispecific drugs grab it with one arm and the tumour with the other, forcing the T cell to attack. This dossier gathers the 14 products (11 approved), 20 trials, 2 pathways and 7 resistance routes in the corpus that involve it, with external identifiers so it can be joined to UniProt, ChEMBL, Open Targets and the rest of biology.
Biology
Invariant TCR co-receptor; engagement triggers activation and cytokine release independent of MHC.
- All T cells (effector arm, not a tumour target)
Elsewhere: identifiers and databases
Built from HGNC, Ensembl, UniProt and ChEMBL idsProducts by modality and phase
Browse products →Trials
Evidence ranking →| Trial | Phase | Status | Setting | Result | Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPCORE DLBCL-1 NCT04628494 | 3 | Mixed | R/R DLBCL after ≥1 line, transplant-ineligible: epcoritamab monotherapy vs investigator's choice (R-GemOx or BR) | PFS HR 0.74; OS HR 0.96 (NS). | |
| DeLLphi-304 NCT05740566 | 3 | Positive | Second-line small-cell lung cancer: tarlatamab vs chemotherapy | OS HR 0.60. | |
| MajesTEC-3 NCT05083169 | 3 | Positive | Relapsed/refractory myeloma after 1-3 prior lines: teclistamab + daratumumab vs Dara-Pd or Dara-Vd | 36-month PFS 83.4% vs 29.7%; HR ~0.17. | |
| SUNMO NCT05171647 | 3 | Positive | R/R LBCL, transplant-ineligible: mosunetuzumab + polatuzumab vs R-GemOx | PFS improved (HR reported 2025). | |
| COG AALL1731 NCT03914625 | 3 | Positive | Newly diagnosed standard-risk B-ALL in children: two cycles of blinatumomab added to chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone | 3-year DFS 96.0% vs 87.9%; HR 0.39. | |
| ECOG-ACRIN E1910 NCT02003222 | 3 | Positive | Newly diagnosed Ph-negative B-ALL, age 30-70, in MRD-negative remission after induction: blinatumomab added to consolidation chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone | 3-year OS 85% vs 68%; HR 0.41. | |
| STARGLO NCT04408638 | 3 | Mixed | R/R DLBCL, transplant-ineligible, ≥1 prior line: glofitamab + GemOx vs rituximab + GemOx | OS HR 0.62; FDA CRL 2025 over applicability. | |
| IMCgp100-202 NCT03070392 | 3 | Positive | Untreated HLA-A*02:01-positive metastatic uveal melanoma: tebentafusp vs investigator's choice (pembrolizumab, ipilimumab, or dacarbazine) | OS 21.7 vs 16.0 months; HR 0.51. | |
| Interfant-06 NCT00550992 | 3 | Mixed | Infant ALL (<1 year): standard vs AML-type early intensification; transplant for high-risk KMT2A-rearranged infants | 6-year EFS 46.1%; intensification no benefit. | |
| TOWER NCT02013167 | 3 | Positive | Relapsed or refractory Ph-negative B-ALL, adults: blinatumomab vs standard salvage chemotherapy | OS 7.7 vs 4.0 months; HR 0.71. | |
| DeLLphi-305 NCT06211036 | 3 | Recruiting | First-line maintenance in ES-SCLC after platinum-etoposide-durvalumab: tarlatamab + durvalumab vs durvalumab | ||
| EPCORE DLBCL-2 NCT05578976 | 3 | Active | Untreated DLBCL: epcoritamab + R-CHOP vs R-CHOP | ||
| PRISM-MEL-301 NCT06112314 | 3 | Recruiting | Untreated HLA-A*02:01-positive advanced cutaneous melanoma: brenetafusp + nivolumab vs nivolumab-based regimens | ||
| XALute NCT06691984 | 3 | Active | mCRPC after ARPI and taxane: xaluritamig vs cabazitaxel or second ARPI (investigator's choice; ≥50% cabazitaxel) | ||
| MagnetisMM-3 NCT04649359 | 2 | Positive | Relapsed/refractory myeloma after ≥3 lines, BCMA-naive: elranatamab monotherapy | ORR 61%. | |
| EPCORE NHL-1 NCT03625037 | 2 | Positive | R/R LBCL after ≥2 lines (single-arm expansion): epcoritamab monotherapy | ORR 63%, CR 39%. | |
| D-ALBA (GIMEMA LAL2116) NCT02744768 | 2 | Positive | Newly diagnosed Ph-positive ALL, adults of all ages: dasatinib induction followed by blinatumomab, no systemic chemotherapy | 18-month OS 95%, DFS 88%. | |
| LINKER-MM1 NCT03761108 | 1/2 | Positive | Relapsed/refractory myeloma after ≥3 lines: linvoseltamab 200 mg | ORR 70%, ≥CR 45%. | |
| MajesTEC-1 NCT04557098 | 1/2 | Positive | Relapsed/refractory myeloma after ≥3 lines: teclistamab monotherapy | ORR 63%, ≥CR 39%. | |
| MonumenTAL-1 NCT04634552 | 1/2 | Positive | Relapsed/refractory myeloma after ≥3 lines: talquetamab (weekly or biweekly) | ORR ~73%. |
Resistance routes that involve this target
Unaddressed routes →Deletion or mutation removes or alters the epitope; more common after bispecifics than CAR-T.
- Switch to GPRC5D-directed therapy (talquetamab, GPRC5D CAR-T) or FcRH5
Prior lines, high tumour burden, and continuous bispecific dosing exhaust T cells; CAR-T products from heavily pretreated patients expand poorly.
- Earlier-line use (CARTITUDE-4, MajesTEC-3); fixed-duration or less frequent bispecific dosing
Shed BCMA binds drug in circulation.
- Gamma-secretase inhibitors to reduce shedding (trials)
Alternative splicing, mutation, or lineage switch (to myeloid) removes the CD19 epitope.
- CD22 CAR-T, CD20 bispecifics, dual-target CARs
Limited expansion or early loss of CAR-T cells; 4-1BB products persist longer than CD28.
- Allogeneic or in vivo re-dosing; armoured CARs
PD-1 upregulation, TGF-β, and myeloid suppression in lymphoma.
- PD-1 knockout or blockade with CAR-T (trials)
RB1/TP53 loss enables transdifferentiation; AR-indifferent, DLL3-positive, PSMA-negative.
- Platinum-etoposide; DLL3 engagers (tarlatamab) and B7-H3 ADCs in trials
Pathways where it is a node
Pathway-to-drug matrix →- Antigen presentation & immune editingNode: CD8 T cell (TCR) · 2 druggable nodes
How the immune system sees cancer, and how cancer learns to hide. Tumours display fragments of their proteins on MHC molecules; T cells kill the ones they recognise; the survivors are the ones that stopped showing fragments or switched on brakes.
Which nodes have drugs → - Extrinsic apoptosis (death receptors)Node: CTL / NK cell · 2 druggable nodes
Immune cells kill by touch: they present FAS ligand or TRAIL to a target cell, whose death receptors then trigger self-destruction from the outside in. Tumours cut this wire by deleting the receptors or over-producing decoys and blockers.
Which nodes have drugs →
Companion diagnostics and assays
Assay registry →No companion diagnostic in the registry measures this target.
Preclinical models
All models →No model entry for this target yet; check the cancer entries on the models page.
Open questions
All open questions →No open questions recorded for this target yet. Suggest one.
Ideas and companies
Key papers and the live literature
Preprints →- Children's Oncology Group AALL1731: blinatumomab added to chemotherapy for children with standard-risk B-cell ALL · New England Journal of Medicine 2025
- ECOG-ACRIN E1910: adding blinatumomab to chemotherapy for adults with B-cell ALL already in MRD-negative remission · New England Journal of Medicine 2024
- DeLLphi-301: tarlatamab, a DLL3-targeting T-cell engager, in previously treated small-cell lung cancer · New England Journal of Medicine 2023
- EPCORE NHL-1: epcoritamab, a subcutaneous CD20 x CD3 bispecific, in relapsed large B-cell lymphoma including after CAR-T · Journal of Clinical Oncology 2023
- MagnetisMM-3: elranatamab, a second BCMA bispecific, with a switch to fortnightly dosing after response · Nature Medicine 2023
- MajesTEC-1: teclistamab, an off-the-shelf BCMA bispecific antibody, in heavily pretreated myeloma · New England Journal of Medicine 2022
Query for this target: (TITLE:"CD3" OR ABSTRACT:"CD3" OR TITLE:"CD3E" OR ABSTRACT:"CD3E") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about CD3, not a curated reading list.
Export
The dossier as machine-readable JSON: identifiers from HGNC, Ensembl, UniProt and ChEMBL, products with status, trials, pathways, hotspots, open questions and assays. The full entity record is in the open API at /api/v1/entities/cd3.json. Licence CC BY 4.0.