As CAR-T Therapies Move Into Earlier Lines, Best Uses Begin To Come Into Focus

Yescarta, Breyanzi Second-Line LBCL Approvals Expected Soon

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Cost, logistics and safety could limit use of CAR-T therapies in first- and second-line treatment of hematologic malignancies, but for some patients there are clear benefits over standards of care.

Double escalator going up
CAR-T therapies are moving up from third-line or later into second-line and earlier settings • Source: Alamy

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies have been a welcome addition to the treatment paradigm for patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma and large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) who have gone through several prior rounds of treatment and run out of good options. But within the next few months CAR-T therapies may take their first steps into earlier lines of treatment, raising the question of how physicians will adapt to use of these complex and costly treatments in new settings.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is slated to get a decision from the US Food and Drug Administration by 1 April regarding its supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) in the second-line treatment of LBCL

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