Chinese professor shares experience in CAR-T therapy at Conference

Another Chinese case study presented by the professor was a 76-year-old female who was diagnosed with non-GCB DLBCL at Ann Arbor stage IIIA with an IPI score of 2, and had a previous history of Sjogren's syndrome. The patient achieved PR after six cycles of first-line treatment with R-CHOP in February 2020. Following second-line treatment using BTKi+ICE regimen, disease progression occurred.

The first CAR-T product in China, Axicabtagene Ciloleucel, was launched in June 2021. Considering the disease was still difficult to control after second-line treatment and was accompanied by Sjogren's syndrome, it was decided in July 2021 to give the patient CAR-T immunotherapy at Ruijin Hospital, and the patient was successfully infused with CAR-T cells after apheresis, bridging therapy and Cy/Flu conditioning. After adverse events management for CRS, CLS, interstitial pneumonia and NT, the patient is now in a stable state, and the efficacy assessment by PET-CT showed CR by Day 28 after infusion. The patient remains in good condition.

Zhao concluded the real-world situation is complex, the baseline characteristics of patients are different from clinical studies and various other co-morbidities must be considered. Individualized clinical treatment should be provided, and CAR-T therapy can improve outcomes as long as clinical management is appropriate. Both of the first patients at Ruijin Hospital obtained CR, and other hospitals in China have also reported CR results using Axicabtagene Ciloleucel.

Moreover, Zhao suggested CAR-T real-world treatment should carried out with a multidisciplinary team and identifying adverse events such as cytokine release syndrome and neurologic toxicities as early as possible, so as to ensure safe management and control.

In recent years, Chinese academics and clinical practitioners have made promising breakthroughs in the development of CAR-T cell therapy. This hard work by Chinese hematologists is driving improvement and standardization of CAR-T cell therapy in China, and patients with hematological malignancies will benefit greatly.