A study shows that adding the bispecific antibody glofitamab to CAR T-cell therapy can improve outcomes for patients with relapsed or hard-to-treat B-cell lymphomas.
CAR T-cell therapy is already widely used, but many patients relapse because cancer cells can hide from treatment, the CAR T-cells lose strength over time, or the tumor environment blocks the immune response. Researchers believed that glofitamab could work together with CAR T-cells to keep them active longer and make treatment more effective.
The study found better results in patients receiving the combination compared to CAR T-cell therapy alone. The overall response rate was 88.9% versus 67.6%, and complete responses were higher at 59.3% versus 44.1%. Importantly, the combination remained safe, with no severe cases of cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity, while a small number of such side effects occurred in the CAR T-only group.
Most patients in the study had Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Glofitamab was given either before CAR T-cell therapy to prepare patients or after treatment to maintain its effects.