ASH 2020 | Interim results of the ZUMA-12 trial: CAR T-cell therapy for large B-Cell lymphoma

Sattva Neelapu, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, discusses the results of the ongoing ZUMA-12 trial (NCT03761056), a Phase II, multicentre, open-label, single-arm study of the anti-CD19 antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell, axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), as first-line therapy for large B-cell lymphoma (LCBL). Patients defined as high-risk were put on a regimen of conditioning chemotherapy and a single infusion of axi-cel. Interim results show high efficacy, with the primary endpoint met with 74% complete response rate (CR) and 70% of patients in ongoing remission. Secondary endpoints include overall response rate (OR), objective response rate (ORR) and frequency of adverse events (AE). The therapy was well tolerated with most AE at grade 1 or 2 cytokine release syndrome (CRS). The second most common adverse event was reversible neurological toxicity, where no grade 5 events were observed. Prof. Neelapu highlights ZUMA-12 as the first study evaluating CAR T-cell therapy as first-line therapy for high-risk LBCL. This interview took place during the 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, 2020.