Dr. Ghobadi on the Safety of CAR T-Cell Therapy in Hematologic Malignancies

Armin Ghobadi, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, Siteman Cancer Center, discusses the safety of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy in hematologic malignancies.

CAR T-cell therapy is a relatively safe treatment, explains Ghobadi. The rate of complications and mortality associated with this approach are similar to what is seen with autologous stem cell transplant, with these rates ranging from 2% to 3% with transplant and 3% to 5% with the CAR-T. The rate of high-grade cytokine release syndrome that requires going to the intensive care unit, or experiencing neurotoxicity or other brain complications such as seizures and confusion, is relatively high but almost always reversible, adds Ghobadi.

As more research is done, Ghobadi explains that not only will physicians look for a way to mitigate the side effects of the therapy but investigate combinations with the highest curative potential.