Dr. Goy on the Durability of Response With Brexucabtagene Autoleucel in MCL

Andre H. Goy, MD, Physician in Chief Hackensack Meridian Health Oncology Care Transformation Service, Chairman & Chief Physician Officer - John Theurer Cancer Center, Lydia Pfund Chair for Lymphoma, Academic Chairman Oncology - Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Professor of Medicine – Georgetown University, Hackensack, NJ, discusses the durability of response with brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

During the 2020 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, findings from a comparative analysis of the pharmacologic profile of brexucabtagene autoleucel and outcomes by MCL morphology and prior BTK inhibitor exposure were presented virtually.

The analysis revealed that all subgroups defined by MCL morphology or prior BTK inhibitor exposure derived clinical benefit from brexucabtagene autoleucel, says Goy. However, patients with blastoid morphology or those who were previously treated with acalabrutinib (Calquence) monotherapy had lower post-treatment CAR T-cell expansion compared with patients with other subtypes, Goy explains.

Notably, these findings suggest that it was not necessary for patients to have detectable, persistent CAR T cells to have a response, Goy says. Additionally, the results showed that about one-third of patients had recovered B cells after 1 year of treatment with brexucabtagene autoleucel, suggesting these responses are durable, concludes Goy.