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| Illustration of CAR T-cell therapy courtesy of UT Southwestern Medical Center |
The study conducted in the US, Canada and Europe involved 128 patients with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that steadily reduces the ability of the immune system cells to protect body from infections. The results were published in the Feb. 25, 2021 New England Journal of Medicine.
More than 32,000 people a year are diagnosed with this cancer, and African Americans are twice as likely as the general population to be diagnosed with it.
“We have patients that are over two years out from their single infusion of CAR T-cells and still in remission despite having no other treatment options when they were enrolled in this trial,” said Larry Anderson, MD, PhD in a press release. He is a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and a co-first author of the study. “The results mark a true breakthrough with unprecedented depth and duration of remissions from what we hope will be the first cellular therapy option to become available for myeloma patients.
Patients in the early clinical trial had been given a median six previous treatment regimens and 120 had undergone stem cell transplants. After blood was withdrawn from a patient researchers engineered the T-cells in their blood to make them target a specific immune cell protein or antigen found only in plasma and myeloma cells. These modified T-cells are then grown into billions and re-infused into the patient.
After following the 128 patients for a median of 13.3 months the length of time the disease progression was halted was a median of 8.8 months, meaning half of the patients had a longer period before their cancer resumed growing and half had less time than that before the cancer resumed growing. Among the patients who received the maximum dose of the treatment median progression-free survival was 12 months. Side effects were mild with most patients experiencing some form of anemia or low blood counts that were manageable.
By comparison, with currently available therapies following multiple relapses patients only average three to four months of remission before their disease returns.
Overall 94 of 128 patients (73%) had a response, meaning the cancer stopped growing, and 42 of 128 (33%) had a complete response or better meaning the cancer disappeared.
The study was funded by the biotech company blue bird bio and Celgene, a Bristol Myers Squibb company, which owns the rights to the therapy for myeloma.
Patients in the early clinical trial had been given a median six previous treatment regimens and 120 had undergone stem cell transplants. After blood was withdrawn from a patient researchers engineered the T-cells in their blood to make them target a specific immune cell protein or antigen found only in plasma and myeloma cells. These modified T-cells are then grown into billions and re-infused into the patient.
After following the 128 patients for a median of 13.3 months the length of time the disease progression was halted was a median of 8.8 months, meaning half of the patients had a longer period before their cancer resumed growing and half had less time than that before the cancer resumed growing. Among the patients who received the maximum dose of the treatment median progression-free survival was 12 months. Side effects were mild with most patients experiencing some form of anemia or low blood counts that were manageable.
By comparison, with currently available therapies following multiple relapses patients only average three to four months of remission before their disease returns.
Overall 94 of 128 patients (73%) had a response, meaning the cancer stopped growing, and 42 of 128 (33%) had a complete response or better meaning the cancer disappeared.
The study was funded by the biotech company blue bird bio and Celgene, a Bristol Myers Squibb company, which owns the rights to the therapy for myeloma.
Sources: University of Texas Southwestern press release and New England Journal of Medicine
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