Dr. Wang on the Safety and Efficacy of KTE-X19 in R/R MCL

Michael Wang, MD, a professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the safety and efficacy of KTE-X19 in relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Results from the phase 2 ZUMA-2 trial indicated that the KTE-X19 pharmacodynamic profiles are generally comparable between patients with low-risk and high-risk MCL, says Wang. Patients were classified as being low risk if they had less than 50% Ki-67 with no TP53 mutation, while high-risk patient had a Ki-67 over 50% along with a TP53 mutation.

Additionally, results showed that the pharmacodynamic profile of KTE-X19 was efficacious, including early minimal residual disease–negative status. However, investigators also found that the cytokines result in more grade 3 and 4 neurotoxicity events. In other words, Wang explains, cytokines increased with the use of CAR T-cell therapy together with the T-cell expansion, which caused not only high efficacy but increased toxicity. Specifically, an increase in neurological toxicities was observed, in addition to cytokine release syndrome.The resultspresented at 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program focused on the neurological toxicities, concludes Wang.