Dr. Maloney Discusses Response to JCAR017 CAR T-Cell Therapy

David Maloney, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses responses to the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product JCAR017.

JCAR017, now known as liso-cel (lisocabtagene maraleucel), is built using a fixed ratio of CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes, and uses a precise flat dose of CD8 and CD4 cells.

This CAR T-cell therapy is associated with about a 30% incidence of cytokine release syndrome of any grade, which is much lower than seen in any previous CAR T-cell trial, says Maloney. This has allowed for use of this product in the outpatient setting, as there is a lower risk for neurotoxicity.

The bottom line is that this product is effective, Maloney states, although long-term data are yet to be released. Available data has shown that this therapy induced an objective response rate of 81% with a complete remission rate of 63% in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.