Dr. Neelapu Discusses Efficacy of Axi-Cel in Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Sattva Neelapu, MD, professor of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the efficacy of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) in patients with large B-cell lymphoma.

At the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, long-term findings from the ZUMA-1 trial were presented. ZUMA-1 evaluated the use of axi-cel, an anti—CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product, in 108 patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma. At the 2-year follow-up, the best overall response rate was 83% and the best complete response rate was 58%, says Neelapu.

The initial data after the 12-month follow-up showed a median progression-free survival of 5.9 months. Forty-two percent of patients had an ongoing remission. At the 2-year update, 39% of the patients still have an ongoing remission, Neelapu says.

Axi-cel was administered as a single infusion of modified autologous T cells at a target dose of 2 x 106 CAR-positive T cells/kg. The treatment was manufactured successfully for 99% of patients, and 91% of patients received treatment with the CAR T-cell therapy, according to data published in Lancet Oncology.