Long-term followup of CD19 CAR therapy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Researchers investigated the safety and long-term effects of CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), a new cellular immunotherapic approach that has shown early, short-term benefits in patients with relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As part of the Phase I study, 53 adult patients with the cancer received an infusion of T-cells expressing the 19-28z CAR. Complete remission was documented in 83% of the study participants following infusion, and overall survival at median followup of 29 months was 12.9 months for the entire sample and 20.1 months for the subset of patients with a low disease burden. With this trial, the researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center confirmed the powerful antitumor efficacy of 19-28z CAR T cells in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL, who sustained long-term remission. The effect was deepened in patients with a low disease burden, who benefited from prolonged survival and suffered fewer toxic effects compared with those with a high disease burden.