CAR T Cell Therapy Shows Efficacy in B Cell Malignancies in Phase 1 Trial

Nirav N. Shah, MD, an associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses bispecific anti-CD20 and anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in a phase 1 dose escalation and expansion trial (NCT03019055) for relapsed B cell malignancies.

There was not a lot of toxicity with the CAR T treatment, and rates of cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity were low, according to Shah. The first 6 patients on the study were able to start on the target dose level. These patients demonstrated a high response rate.

The manufacturing of the treatment for this trial was done in-house using the CliniMACS Prodigy device, which allows for point-of-care manufacturing. Shah says this allowed investigators to collect the CAR T cells fresh, put them in the device, and administer them fresh to patients without having to do mandated cryopreservation.

The findings for this trial in patients with diseases ranging from diffuse large B cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma, showed that the 12 patients receiving the target dose and fresh infusions had an overall response rate of 100%. There was promising progression-free survival results as well, with over half of patients remaining in remission at the time of publication, according to Shah.