Dr. Westin on Subgroup Analysis of ZUMA-7 of Elderly Patients With R/R DLBCL

Jason R. Westin, MD, director, Lymphoma Clinical Research, section chief, Aggressive Lymphoma, associate professor, Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses subgroup analysis of elderly patients treated in the ZUMA-7 trial (NCT03391466).

Investigators stratified efficacy outcomes for those treated with axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta), a CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy, by age among adult patients in the population.

Patients aged 65 years or older are an important subset of patients, as they may not tolerate high-dose chemotherapy, and may not be eligible for curative intent approaches, Westin says. However, patients in this age group did better with CAR T-cell therapy than with chemotherapy in terms of their response rates, progression-free survival, and had early trends toward improved overall survival, Westin explains.

Moreover, quality of life was better for patients who received CAR T-cells, Westin adds. Standard-of-care, high-dose chemotherapy had a rapid and a persistent drop in patient quality of life, Westin explains. Older patients in ZUMA-7 had an initial drop in their quality of life following treatment with axi-cel, but quickly rebounded to baseline or better, Westin continues. Overall, axi-cel should be considered a viable option for patients who are age 65 years or older in the second line, Westin concludes.