Dr. Lenz on the European Approval of Liso-cel in Relapsed/Refractory LBCL

Georg Lenz, MD, professor, Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Lenz Lab: Translational Oncology, discussed the European approval of lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; Breyanzi) in relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma.

The European approval of liso-cel in April 2022 was based on long-term follow-up data from the phase 1 TRANSCEND-NHL-001 trial (NCT02631044). In February 2021, the FDA approved liso-cel for the treatment of adult patients with certain types of LBCL who have not responded to, or who have relapsed after, at least 2 other types of systemic treatment.

Liso-cel has proved efficacious for heavily pretreated patients that are generally characterized by poor outcome, Lenz explains. Liso-cel has shown to be curative in a significant proportion of patients, and the treatment has been well tolerated, with a low rate of neurologic events, Lenz adds.

Prior to the European approval of liso-cel, the CAR T-cell therapies axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) and tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) received European approval, and both are curative and tolerable treatment options, Lenz continues. However, based on the TRANSCEND-NHL-001 data, liso-cel could challenge these previously approved therapies, Lenz concludes.