Dr. Siddiqi on the Rationale to Evaluate CAR T-Cell Therapy in CLL

Tanya Siddiqi, MD, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at the City of Hope, discusses the rationale to evaluate CAR T-cell therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

In diseases such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy was introduced with the hope of addressing an immediate unmet clinical need, explains Siddiqi. As such, the utility of this modality in CLL went largely unknown as the need for the therapy in other disease types was greater than in this disease.

However, with the growth of CAR T-cell therapy, the field of CLL is beginning to explore the modality for use in patients who have progressed on novel oral agents, such as ibrutinib (Imbruvica) or venetoclax (Venclexta), says Siddiqi. Currently, the field has limited salvage options for these patients, concludes Siddiqi.