Addressing Unmet Needs in Mantle Cell Lymphoma With CAR T Therapy: Anita Kumar, MD

This content originally appeared on our sister site, OncLive.

OncLive spoke with Anita Kumar, MD, medical oncologist, Regional Care Network Medical Site Director, MSK Basking Ridge, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, about efforts made to address areas of unmet need in mantle cell lymphoma.

Kumar discussed how challenges still exist in treating patients with MCL who harbor p53 mutations, blastic disease, and primary refractory disease, as well as efforts are currently underway to identify which therapies may have activity in these subsets. Recently, data with brexucabtagene autoleucel (formerly KTE-X19; Tecartus) suggest that the CAR T-cell therapy can improve efficacy, even in high-risk subsets, Kumar says.

Because remissions are often shorter with standard chemotherapy/immunotherapy regimens, as well as novel targeted therapies, patients who experience early relapse, harbor p53 mutations, or have blastic disease should be referred to a specialized center with access to CAR T-cell therapy, Kumar concludes.