Dr. Lekakis on Real-World Data With CAR T-Cell Therapy in Lymphoma

Lazaros John Lekakis, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, discusses real-world data with CAR T-cell therapy from the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting.

The real-world data for the use of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) came as a surprise to some physicians, says Lekakis. A lot of people in the community thought the ZUMA-1 trial data would not be reproducible in practice as there were very strict exclusion criteria for the study. However, the real-world data with over 200 patients showed a complete response rate that was consistent with the data from the ZUMA-1 trial.

Moreover, it was not the only trial that demonstrated those results in a real-world setting, says Lekakis. Taken collectively, these data show that approximately 37% of patients had no evidence of disease at the time of data cutoff. These patients are most likely cured because very few relapses happen after a 6-month cutoff, adds Lekakis.