Dr. Shadman on the Safety Profile of a CD20-Directed CAR T-Cell Therapy in B-NHL and CLL

Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH, physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, associate professor, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine, associate professor, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses the safety profile of MB-106, a third-generation, CD20-directed CAR T-cell therapy, in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

During the 2021 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, initial findings from an ongoing phase 1/2 trial (NCT03277729) were presented. The results demonstrated high efficacy in patients with B-NHL, including CLL and Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

Regarding safety, MB-106 demonstrated a favorable safety profile as an outpatient CAR T-cell therapy. No grade 3 or 4 cytokine release syndrome or immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) was observed across all evaluable patients (n = 20). Two patients developed grade 2 ICANS, but no patients with follicular lymphoma developed any-grade ICANS.

For outpatient treatment, safety is a key consideration for therapeutic development, Shadman says. Moreover, the threshold for concerning toxicity is lower in patients with low-grade lymphomas compared with those with high-grade disease. As such, the favorable safety profile observed with MB-106 is encouraging amid the competitive landscape of follicular lymphoma and CLL, Shadman concludes.