Dr. Munshi on T-Cell Persistence With Ide-Cel in R/R Multiple Myeloma

Nikhil C. Munshi, MD, director of Basic and Correlative Science at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Kraft Family Chair and senior physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses T-cell persistence with ​idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; bb2121) demonstrated in the phase 2 KarMMA trial in patients with ​relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

After receiving ide-cel for 1 month, 99% of patients enrolled on the trial had T-cell persistence, says Munshi, and at 3 months, 75% of patients displayed persistence.

As further CAR T-cell studies are conducted in the multiple myeloma space, this point is paramount to keep in mind. Ongoing studies could provide additional insight regarding what the persistence means and what the role of ide-cel will be in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, concludes Munshi.