A new, experimental immunotherapy can put patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that is resistant to or has come back after multiple other therapies, including CAR T therapy, into remission. A global, multicenter trial found almost half of patients with slow growing lymphomas had complete responses to the antibody called mosunetuzumab. Among patients on the study whose lymphoma progressed after CAR T therapy, 22% went into complete remission when treated with the drug. Stephen J. Schuster, director of the Lymphoma Program at the Abramson Cancer Center, will present the findings in a plenary session as well as during the press program at the 61st American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer that affects the lymphatic system, which is the body’s way of clearing toxins and waste. About 85% of NHL cases are B-cell lymphomas, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma. While many of these patients respond to frontline chemo-immunotherapy, those who do not frequently do not respond to second-line therapies as well. About 40% of these non-responders with DLBCL can benefit from CAR T therapy, which is approved for use after two prior lines of treatment. CAR T is not approved for follicular lymphoma, though clinical trials have shown it holds promise.
“There is still a large need for new treatments in relapsed or refractory cases, since some patients fail CAR T and others are too sick to wait for cell manufacturing,” Schuster says. “One of the benefits of this treatment is that it’s ‘off-the-shelf,’ meaning it does not need to be manufactured for each patient.”
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