Oncology

The associate professor at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center discussed the implications of her analysis of the CAR T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma at the ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are lymphocytes genetically engineered to recognize and bind to specific proteins on cancer cells. Studies are currently underway for applications in other fields.

The CAR T cell therapy bb21217 demonstrated high very good partial response or better rates in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Blinatumomab (Blincyto) as post-reinduction consolidation therapy before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation improved disease-free survival and overall survival by approximately 20% compared with intensive chemotherapy in pediatric and adolescent and young adult patients with high- or intermediate-risk of first relapse of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel showed promising clinical activity and manageable toxicity in heavily pretreated patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, all of whom had progressed on ibrutinib.

The BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy JNJ-4528 achieved a 100% overall response rate with early and deep responses in 29 patients with heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory myeloma.

Mosunetuzumab, a novel bispecific antibody, generated durable responses in patients with highly refractory non-Hodgkin lymphomas, including complete remissions in 22.2% of those who had previously received chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy targeting both BCMA and CD38 induced an objective response in >90% of patients with multiple myeloma who had been treated with at least 3 prior therapies and whose disease had spread outside of the bone marrow.

An investigational new drug application for the therapy, which is labeled FT596, was approved in September 2019 and human trials are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2020.

A recent study from Penn Medicine presented at ASH 2019 has found mosunetuzumab could be an effective treatment for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma refractory to CAR T therapy.

Treatment with the BCMA-targeted CAR T-cell therapy idecabtagene vicleucel was associated with a 73.4% overall response rate in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, meeting the primary endpoint of the pivotal phase II KarMMA trial.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy targeting both BCMA and CD38 induced an objective response in >90% of patients with multiple myeloma who had been treated with at least 3 prior therapies and whose disease had spread outside of the bone marrow.

Sham Mailankody, MBBS, discusses research regarding the BCMA CAR T-cell therapy bb2121 in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The FDA granted a breakthrough therapy designation to abatacept for the prevention of moderate to severe acute graft-versus-host disease in hematopoietic stem cell transplants from unrelated donors.

Research on chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy to be presented at the ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition is set to address drawbacks associated with treatment.

Robert A. Brodsky, MD discussed the study of a first-of-kind multi-antigen targeted off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor- natural killer cell therapy with engineered persistence that will be presented at the ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Anti-BCMA directed treatments, including CAR T-cell therapy, bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates, have the potential to revolutionize the multiple myeloma treatment paradigm. At the 37 Annual CFS®, Sham Mailankody, MBBS, discussed the emerging BCMA-directed therapies that have shown the greatest potential.

Saad Z. Usmani, MD, FACP, discusses the mechanisms of action of BCMA-targeted CAR T-cell therapy, bispecific monoclonal antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates in multiple myeloma.

The FDA has granted a Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation to the investigational anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy CT053 for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Nina Chavez, MBA, FACMPE, chief operating officer, New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants, Ltd., explains how expensive therapies like chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy are creating reimbursement challenges.

Bianca D. Santomasso, MD, PhD, discusses how she prevents central nervous system toxicity due to CAR T-cell therapy for aggressive B-cell lymphoma in her own practice.

Novel strategies are needed to enhance the efficacy of CAR T-cell therapies in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, including new constructs that target more than 1 antigen.

The emergence of monoclonal antibodies, immunomodulatory agents, immunotoxins, bispecific T-cell engagers, and CAR T-cell therapies will redefine multiple myeloma treatment. However, these new approaches, by themselves, are not enough to achieve cure; they must be used in combination.

Treatment delays limit the social value generated by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for the treatment of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.