Dr. Kahl on the Potential Utility of Frontline CAR T-Cell Therapy in MCL

Brad S. Kahl, MD, professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, Oncology Division, Medical Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, discusses the potential utility of frontline CAR T-cell therapy in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

CAR T-cell therapy has the potential to move into earlier lines of treatment, including the frontline setting, in MCL; however, longer follow-up is needed with CAR T-cell therapy in the relapsed/refractory setting before frontline clinical trials can be explored, Kahl says. Currently, CAR T-cell therapy is demonstrating high response rates at 12 and 18 months of follow-up in the relapsed/refractory setting, but it is unknown whether these responses will remain durable at 3 or 5 years.

Positive 3-year data in the relapsed/refractory setting could provide the clinical rationale to evaluate CAR T-cell therapy in the frontline setting, Kahl says. Pending these results, CAR T-cell therapy could replace autologous stem cell transplant as consolidative therapy or offer a standard option for patients with high-risk biologic features, such as TP53 mutations, Kahl concludes.