Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimization

IntroductionUp to 50% of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) relapse or are refractory to first-line therapy. Tisagenlecleucel, a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, is approved for patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) DLBCL in the third-line setting. Pat...

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Main Authors: Phoebe Joy Ho, Vinay Vanguru, Cale S. Burge, Rebecca Wayte, Christina Brown, Christian E. Bryant, Scott Dunkley, Derek McCulloch, Liane Khoo, James Favaloro, Anthony Jeffrey, Annie Solterbeck, Stephen Larsen, Edward Abadir
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Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Oncology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2025.1633644/full
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author Phoebe Joy Ho
Phoebe Joy Ho
Vinay Vanguru
Vinay Vanguru
Cale S. Burge
Rebecca Wayte
Rebecca Wayte
Christina Brown
Christina Brown
Christian E. Bryant
Christian E. Bryant
Scott Dunkley
Scott Dunkley
Derek McCulloch
Derek McCulloch
Liane Khoo
Liane Khoo
James Favaloro
Anthony Jeffrey
Anthony Jeffrey
Annie Solterbeck
Stephen Larsen
Stephen Larsen
Edward Abadir
Edward Abadir
author_facet Phoebe Joy Ho
Phoebe Joy Ho
Vinay Vanguru
Vinay Vanguru
Cale S. Burge
Rebecca Wayte
Rebecca Wayte
Christina Brown
Christina Brown
Christian E. Bryant
Christian E. Bryant
Scott Dunkley
Scott Dunkley
Derek McCulloch
Derek McCulloch
Liane Khoo
Liane Khoo
James Favaloro
Anthony Jeffrey
Anthony Jeffrey
Annie Solterbeck
Stephen Larsen
Stephen Larsen
Edward Abadir
Edward Abadir
author_sort Phoebe Joy Ho
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionUp to 50% of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) relapse or are refractory to first-line therapy. Tisagenlecleucel, a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, is approved for patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) DLBCL in the third-line setting. Patients with r/r DLBCL treated with tisagenlecleucel in the real world have shown similar outcomes to those in clinical trials.MethodsWe report a single-center real-world analysis of patients with r/r DLBCL treated with tisagenlecleucel.ResultsAs of December 31, 2024, 63 patients with r/r DLBCL had received tisagenlecleucel (median follow-up, 15 months). Cytokine release syndrome occurred in 89%; 95% were grades 1/2. Immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome was reported in 17% (10/11 cases mild; one case grade ≥3). The overall response rate was 79%, with 60% complete response (CR). The median duration of response was 26.4 months. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 14.6 months, and the overall survival (OS) was 15.4 months. Patients whose response at day 30 was CR had a 42% reduction in risk of progression compared with those who achieved partial response (PR). High lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) at infusion was associated with a higher risk of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR] 2.1) and death (HR 2.65) than normal LDH, with the risk for progression increased 3.3-fold in a multivariate model. Almost one-third of our patients who achieved CR/PR had normalized their LDH at the time of infusion from a previously elevated level, of whom 87% (13/15) had received bridging therapy. Lack of response to bridging was associated with an almost twofold increased risk of progression compared with the responsive patients (3.1 vs. 19.5 months; HR 1.9; 95% CI: 0.9–3.9, P = 0.08).ConclusionWe demonstrated in this analysis that the safety and efficacy of tisagenlecleucel in patients with r/r DLBCL in an Australian real-world setting were better than in the pivotal JULIET clinical trial and other registry studies. We also confirmed the importance of achieving early CR and normalizing the LDH levels at CAR-T cell infusion to reduce the risk of disease progression. Our results suggest that bridging therapy played an important role in optimizing outcomes by managing pre-CAR-T disease control.
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spelling doaj-art-7ab24a6875e24daf921c72292699d78d2025-08-20T03:44:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Oncology2234-943X2025-08-011510.3389/fonc.2025.16336441633644Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimizationPhoebe Joy Ho0Phoebe Joy Ho1Vinay Vanguru2Vinay Vanguru3Cale S. Burge4Rebecca Wayte5Rebecca Wayte6Christina Brown7Christina Brown8Christian E. Bryant9Christian E. Bryant10Scott Dunkley11Scott Dunkley12Derek McCulloch13Derek McCulloch14Liane Khoo15Liane Khoo16James Favaloro17Anthony Jeffrey18Anthony Jeffrey19Annie Solterbeck20Stephen Larsen21Stephen Larsen22Edward Abadir23Edward Abadir24Institute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaStatistical Revelations, Ocean Grove, VIC, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitute of Haematology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaIntroductionUp to 50% of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) relapse or are refractory to first-line therapy. Tisagenlecleucel, a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, is approved for patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) DLBCL in the third-line setting. Patients with r/r DLBCL treated with tisagenlecleucel in the real world have shown similar outcomes to those in clinical trials.MethodsWe report a single-center real-world analysis of patients with r/r DLBCL treated with tisagenlecleucel.ResultsAs of December 31, 2024, 63 patients with r/r DLBCL had received tisagenlecleucel (median follow-up, 15 months). Cytokine release syndrome occurred in 89%; 95% were grades 1/2. Immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome was reported in 17% (10/11 cases mild; one case grade ≥3). The overall response rate was 79%, with 60% complete response (CR). The median duration of response was 26.4 months. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 14.6 months, and the overall survival (OS) was 15.4 months. Patients whose response at day 30 was CR had a 42% reduction in risk of progression compared with those who achieved partial response (PR). High lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) at infusion was associated with a higher risk of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR] 2.1) and death (HR 2.65) than normal LDH, with the risk for progression increased 3.3-fold in a multivariate model. Almost one-third of our patients who achieved CR/PR had normalized their LDH at the time of infusion from a previously elevated level, of whom 87% (13/15) had received bridging therapy. Lack of response to bridging was associated with an almost twofold increased risk of progression compared with the responsive patients (3.1 vs. 19.5 months; HR 1.9; 95% CI: 0.9–3.9, P = 0.08).ConclusionWe demonstrated in this analysis that the safety and efficacy of tisagenlecleucel in patients with r/r DLBCL in an Australian real-world setting were better than in the pivotal JULIET clinical trial and other registry studies. We also confirmed the importance of achieving early CR and normalizing the LDH levels at CAR-T cell infusion to reduce the risk of disease progression. Our results suggest that bridging therapy played an important role in optimizing outcomes by managing pre-CAR-T disease control.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2025.1633644/fullr/r DLBCLCAR-Treal-worldtisagenlecleucelrelapsedrefractory
spellingShingle Phoebe Joy Ho
Phoebe Joy Ho
Vinay Vanguru
Vinay Vanguru
Cale S. Burge
Rebecca Wayte
Rebecca Wayte
Christina Brown
Christina Brown
Christian E. Bryant
Christian E. Bryant
Scott Dunkley
Scott Dunkley
Derek McCulloch
Derek McCulloch
Liane Khoo
Liane Khoo
James Favaloro
Anthony Jeffrey
Anthony Jeffrey
Annie Solterbeck
Stephen Larsen
Stephen Larsen
Edward Abadir
Edward Abadir
Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimization
Frontiers in Oncology
r/r DLBCL
CAR-T
real-world
tisagenlecleucel
relapsed
refractory
title Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimization
title_full Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimization
title_fullStr Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimization
title_full_unstemmed Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimization
title_short Real-world Australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—importance of pre-CAR-T optimization
title_sort real world australian experience with tisagenlecleucel for relapsed refractory diffuse large b cell lymphoma importance of pre car t optimization
topic r/r DLBCL
CAR-T
real-world
tisagenlecleucel
relapsed
refractory
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2025.1633644/full
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