In the phase II ZUMA-1 trial of patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, treatment with the experimental chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy, KTE-C19, induced complete remissions (CR) in more than half of patients and demonstrated an objective response rate in 79 percent of patients.
The study included 62 patients: 51 with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and 11 with either transformed follicular lymphoma (TFL) or primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL). For those with DLBCL, the ORR with KTE-C19 was 76 percent, with a CR rate of 47 percent. In those with TFL/PMBCL, the ORR was 91 percent, with a CR rate of 73 percent.
Serious neurologic toxicity was reported in 34 percent of patients, and serious cytokine release syndrome (CRS) was reported in 18 percent of patients. Two deaths occurred involving cardiac arrest related to CRS.
Kite Pharma Inc, the drug's manufacturer, said it will present six-month follow-up data from 101 patients in early 2017 with outcomes on complete response rates.
Source: Reuters, September 26, 2016.