Novel CAR T-cell therapy under study in relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Researchers analyzed the efficacy of huCART19-IL18, a novel CAR T-cell therapy, in 21 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma whose cancers were relapsed or had stopped responding to treatment after receiving a commercially available CAR T-cell therapy. They found that huCART19-IL18 had a 3-month overall response rate of 80% in 20 of the patients with no new or unexpected safety concerns beyond the known CAR T-cell side effects. Notably, this novel therapy uses a production process that shortens the manufacturing time for the CAR-T cells to 3 days, enabling patients to receive therapy sooner and possibly also enhancing the potency of the CAR-T cells.