CD19 CAR T-cell therapy and LTFU for relapsed/refractory CLL
Liang EC, Albittar A, Huang JJ, et al. Factors Associated with Long-Term Outcomes of CD19 CAR T-Cell Therapy for Relapsed/Refractory CLL. Blood Advances. 2023; (doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023011399).
The results of a Phase I/II clinical trial found that CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor-modified (CD19 CAR) T-cell therapy led to long-term durable responses in a subgroup of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with curative potential. The study involved 47 patients with relapsed/refractory CLL and/or Richter transformation. Over a median follow-up of 79.6 months, the median duration of progression-free survival (PFS) was 8.9 months and 6-year PFS rate was 17.8%. Shorter PFS corresponded with maximum SUV and bulky disease prior to lymphodepletion. Longer PFS corresponded with day +28 complete response by positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan, day +28 minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity by magnetic field correlation, day +28 MRD negativity by next-generation sequencing (NSG), higher peak CD8+ CAR T-cell expansion, higher peak CD4+ CAR T-cell expansion, and extended CAR T-cell persistence. The 6-year duration of response was 26.4% and overall survival was 31.2%, while for NGS MRD-negative responders the median duration of response was 53.4 months.