Barriers to CAR T-cell therapy among patients with hematologic malignancies

A retrospective study at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY) found that among patients with hematologic malignancies referred for CAR T-cell therapy, 44% did ultimately not access the therapy. Patients with myeloma were less likely to receive CAR T-cell therapy than patients with lymphoma. Black patients were less likely to receive CAR T-cell therapy than White patients, although the number of Black patients in this study was small. Among reasons for not receiving CAR T-cell therapy were rapid disease progression (21% of patients), lack of appropriate CAR T-cell therapy (21%), and concerns about toxic effects (19%).