Axicabtagene Ciloleucel as second-line therapy for large b-cell lymphoma.
Locke, Frederick L ; Miklos, David B ; Jacobson, Caron A ; Perales, Miguel-Angel ; Kersten, Marie-José ; Oluwole, Olalekan O ; Ghobadi, Armin ; Rapoport, Aaron P ; McGuirk, Joseph ; Pagel, John M ... show 10 more
Locke, Frederick L
Miklos, David B
Jacobson, Caron A
Perales, Miguel-Angel
Kersten, Marie-José
Oluwole, Olalekan O
Ghobadi, Armin
Rapoport, Aaron P
McGuirk, Joseph
Pagel, John M
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2021-12-11
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Abstract
Background: The prognosis of patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after the receipt of first-line chemoimmunotherapy is poor.
Methods: In this international, phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, patients with large B-cell lymphoma that was refractory to or had relapsed no more than 12 months after first-line chemoimmunotherapy to receive axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel, an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy) or standard care (two or three cycles of investigator-selected, protocol-defined chemoimmunotherapy, followed by high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell transplantation in patients with a response to the chemoimmunotherapy). The primary end point was event-free survival according to blinded central review. Key secondary end points were response and overall survival. Safety was also assessed.
Results: A total of 180 patients were randomly assigned to receive axi-cel and 179 to receive standard care. The primary end-point analysis of event-free survival showed that axi-cel therapy was superior to standard care. At a median follow-up of 24.9 months, the median event-free survival was 8.3 months in the axi-cel group and 2.0 months in the standard-care group, and the 24-month event-free survival was 41% and 16%, respectively (hazard ratio for event or death, 0.40; 95% confidence interval, 0.31 to 0.51; P<0.001). A response occurred in 83% of the patients in the axi-cel group and in 50% of those in the standard-care group (with a complete response in 65% and 32%, respectively). In an interim analysis, the estimated overall survival at 2 years was 61% in the axi-cel group and 52% in the standard-care group. Adverse events of grade 3 or higher occurred in 91% of the patients who received axi-cel and in 83% of those who received standard care. Among patients who received axi-cel, grade 3 or higher cytokine release syndrome occurred in 6% and grade 3 or higher neurologic events in 21%. No deaths related to cytokine release syndrome or neurologic events occurred.
Conclusions: Axi-cel therapy led to significant improvements, as compared with standard care, in event-free survival and response, with the expected level of high-grade toxic effects. (Funded by Kite; ZUMA-7 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03391466.).
Citation
Locke FL, Miklos DB, Jacobson CA, Perales MA, Kersten MJ, Oluwole OO, Ghobadi A, Rapoport AP, McGuirk J, Pagel JM, Muñoz J, Farooq U, van Meerten T, Reagan PM, Sureda A, Flinn IW, Vandenberghe P, Song KW, Dickinson M, Minnema MC, Riedell PA, Leslie LA, Chaganti S, Yang Y, Filosto S, Shah J, Schupp M, To C, Cheng P, Gordon LI, Westin JR; All ZUMA-7 Investigators and Contributing Kite Members. Axicabtagene Ciloleucel as Second-Line Therapy for Large B-Cell Lymphoma. N Engl J Med. 2022 Feb 17;386(7):640-654. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2116133. Epub 2021 Dec 11
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