Clinical, tumor and product features associated with outcomes after axicabtagene ciloleucel therapy in follicular lymphoma

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Abstract

BACKGROUND. Axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy demonstrated remarkable efficacy with manageable toxicity in relapsed/refractory indolent B-cell lymphomas in the ZUMA-5 trial. METHODS. Here, we report associations of product attributes, serum biomarkers, clinical features, and tumor characteristics with outcome in 124 follicular lymphoma (FL) patients. RESULTS. In univariate and multivariate analyses, pre-treatment inflammatory markers, including TNFα and IL12p40, as well as total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) associated with disease progression. Conversely, T-naïve-like product phenotype associated with improved outcome, particularly in high TMTV patients. These covariates improved risk stratification when combined with the FL International Prognostic Index. Post-infusion, CAR T-cell expansion associated with improved outcome, while serum inflammatory and immuno-modulatory markers, including TNFα associated with disease progression and occurrence of high-grade cytokine release syndrome or neurologic events, presenting targets to improve the therapeutic index of axi-cel in FL. Tumor gene expression profiling revealed that both type I and II IFN signaling associated with disease progression and higher expression of T cell exhaustion markers, including TIM3 and LAG3. Pre- or post-treatment CD19 expression on tumor was not associated with outcome. CONCLUSION. These findings offer insights into mechanisms of resistance and toxicity, risk stratification, and strategies for development of next generation CAR-T approaches. TRIAL REGISTRATION. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03105336. FUNDING. Kite, a Gilead Company.

Authors

Soumya Poddar, Jiali Yan, Gayatri Tiwari, Darawan Rinchai, Justin Budka, Wangshu Zhang, Weixin Peng, Shruti Salunkhe, Madison Davis, Qinghua Song, Sara Beygi, Harry Miao, Mike Mattie, Rhine S. Shen, Caron A. Jacobson, Davide Bedognetti, Simone Filosto, Sattva S. Neelapu