Treatment for High-risk Lymphomas

Evaluation of front-line CAR T cell therapy for high-risk B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) has been discovered by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, published in Nature Medicine, and presented at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

The study found that almost 89% of the 40 patients treated with axi-cel (an autologous anti-CD19 CAR T cell therapy manufactured and reprogrammed from the patient's T cells to recognize cancer cells) had an objective response and 78% experienced a complete response. The estimated overall survival rate at 12 months was 91%.

‘First-line treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, achieved a high rate of complete response in patients with high-risk large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL).’

"Existing treatments for LBCL consist of six months of chemotherapy. These results provide evidence that axi-cel may offer effective responses in one treatment and eliminate the need for patients to be exposed to other therapies," says Sattva Neelapu, M.D., professor of Lymphoma and Myeloma.

"A randomized trial is necessary to confirm these results. I am highly encouraged that with additional studies we can move CAR T cell therapy to be the first treatment for high-risk lymphoma patients," says Neelapu.

Source: Medindia