Jane N. Winter, MD

Jane N. Winter, MD, moderator of the press conference on late-breaking abstracts at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exhibition, commented on the BELINDA study in the context of two investigations that had been previously reported at the same meeting. These two studies—the TRANSFORM study of lisocabtagene maraleucel and the ZUMA-7 study of axicabtagene ciloleucel—showed excellent results for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma.^1,2 Dr. Winter is Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a hematologist at Northwestern Medicine.

“I think there are study design and implementation differences among the three different CAR T-cell trials for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [presented at the 2021 ASH meeting]. It is likely that the capacity to move rapidly to lymphodepleting therapy and product infusion is key to impacting disease in these high-risk patients. Whether CAR T-cell therapy will prove more effective than standard-of-care therapy in patients with relapse beyond the 1-year mark will require additional studies,” Dr. Winter said. 

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Winter has received research funding and honoraria from Merck. Her spouse has served on data and safety monitoring boards for Ariad, Takeda, Epizyme, and Novartis; and has served as a consultant to Novartis, CVS Caremark, Agios, Gilead, Janssen, and Actinium Pharma.

REFERENCES

1. Kamdar M, Solomon SM, Arnason JE, et al: Lisocabtagene maraleucel, a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy, versus standard of care with salvage chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation as second-line treatment in patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma: Results from the randomized phase 3 TRANSFORM study. 2021 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition. Abstract 91. Presented December 11, 2021.

2. Locke FL, Miklos DB, Jacobson C, et al: Primary analysis of ZUMA-7: A phase 3 randomized trial of axicabtagene ciloleucel versus standard of care therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma. 2021 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition. Abstract 2. Presented December 12, 2021.