SAN DIEGO – A hematopoietic cell transplant following chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL) may reduce late relapse risk in certain patients, a retrospective analysis suggests.
Corinne Summers, MD, of Seattle Children’s Hospital, and her colleagues evaluated the potential benefits of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) in 50 pediatric and young adult B-ALL patients who had sustained leukemic remission after receiving SCRI-CAR19v1, a CD19-specific CAR T-cell product.
Leukemia-free survival was significantly improved for patients with no history of HCT who received CD19 CAR T-cell therapy followed by consolidative HCT, Dr. Summers reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
However, the benefits of consolidative HCT are unclear for patients with a history of HCT, Dr. Summers said at the meeting, noting that larger studies are needed.
In her video interview at ASH 2018, Dr. Summers talked more about the challenges of late leukemic relapse and the potential role of HCT after CAR T-cell therapy.
Dr. Summers reported no disclosures related to her presentation.