Dr. Shadman on Next Steps for CAR T-Cell Therapy in DLBCL

Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH, assistant member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses next steps for CAR T-cell therapy in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

CAR T-cell therapy has made a large impact in relapsed/refractory DLBCL, where there are 2 FDA-approved products targeting CD19. Long-term follow-up data suggest these therapies are inducing durable responses. Now, ongoing studies are looking at the feasibility of bringing CAR T-cell therapy into an earlier setting, says Shadman.

In the second-line setting of DLBCL, patients are typically treated with induction chemoimmunotherapy, followed by intensive therapy and autologous stem cell transplant. The question is whether CAR T-cell therapy can demonstrate better outcomes. Lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; JCAR017) is one product that is being tested in this setting.

Furthermore, axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) is being studied in the frontline setting for patients with high-risk DLBCL who don’t achieve a complete response to induction therapy, says Shadman.