Dr. Ghosh on Safety Results From the Phase 2 PILOT Trial in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Nilanjan Ghosh, MD, PhD, director, Lymphoma Program, physician, Levine Cancer Institute, discusses the safety results from the phase 2 PILOT study with lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

During the 2020 European Hematology Association Congress, interim data from the ongoing study showed that liso-cel elicited similar efficacy and safety as second-line therapy versus third-line therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive large B-cell NHL.

Regarding safety, investigator-assessed grade 3 or greater treatment-emergent adverse effects (TEAEs) occurred in 69% of 29 treated patients.

As with all CAR T-cell therapy studies, TEAEs of special interest including cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity were assessed, explains Ghosh.

CRS and neurological events were observed in 21% and 10% of patients, respectively. There were no grade 3 or 4 CRS events, while 7% of patients experienced grade 3 neurologic events. 

The median time to onset of CRS and neurologic events was 5 days and 8 days, respectively.

Finally, 17% of patients received tocilizumab (Actemra) and/or dexamethasone for CRS or neurologic events, concludes Ghosh.