Dr. Neelapu on Emerging CAR T-Cell Therapies in Relapsed/Refractory MCL

Sattva Neelapu, MD, a professor of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses emerging CAR T-cell therapies for patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel; Tecartus) was approved by the FDA in July 2020 for relapsed/refractory MCL, and shares many similarities with axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta), which was approved by the FDA for use in adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma in October 2017, Neelapu says; the main difference between the products has to do with how they are manufactured.

In the multicenter phase 2 ZUMA-2 trial (NCT02601313), patients who received brexu-cel achieved a complete response (CR) rate of 67%, Neelapu notes. At a median follow-up of about 18 months, 48% of patients continued to respond to the product, according to data presented at the 2020 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Another product that is currently under review for patients with MCL if lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; Breyanzi), which is being examined in the phase 1 TRANSCEND NHL 001 trial (NCT02631044). An interim analysis presented at the 2020 ASH Meeting and Exposition examined outcomes with the agent in 32 patients. In total, 66% of patients achieved a CR, though a longer follow-up is needed in order to confirm the agent's benefit, Neelapu concludes.