Single-center retrospective study of bendamustine lymphodepletion before lisocabtagene maraleucel for large B-cell lymphoma

Anti-CD19 CAR T cell therapies are now a standard treatment for relapsed and/of refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) patients. A retrospective study at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) evaluated bendamustine lymphodepletion followed by lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) for sequentially-treated patients with LBCL. Of note, 22.6% of patients would not have met the inclusion criteria for the liso-cell registrational trials, mostly due to older age. Overall response and complete response rates were 76.9% and 73.1%, respectively. At a median follow-up of 6.3 months, the 6-month progression-free and overall survival rates were 59.9% and 91.1%, respectively. CRS and ICANS, only grade 1 and 2, were each seen in 9.7% of patients. No infections were reported in the first 30 days after liso-cel. Grade ≥ 3 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were observed in 29.0% and 9.7%, respectively. The authors conclude that among LBCL patient, bendamustine lymphodepletion followed by liso-cel resulted in tumor responses with a mild toxicity profile.