Basem M. William, MD, MRCP(UK), FACP

Basem M. William, MD, MRCP(UK), FACP, Director of the T-Cell Lymphoma Program and Member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, Columbus, Ohio, commented on the ZUMA-2 findings for The ASCO Post. “KTE-X19 showed very high activity in ZUMA-2. KTE-X19 will likely gain approval in 2020 and become the new standard of care for relapsed mantle cell lymphoma,” Dr. William predicted.

Currently, the best options for relapsed disease include ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, zanubrutinib, and venetoclax, but there is no other chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product approved for this malignancy. KTE-X19 will become a favorite option in this setting, given the hope for cure, he added.

Other CAR T-cell products made by Kite have historically been associated with relatively higher rates of adverse events, noted Dr. William. “But with such a very high objective response rate (93%) seen in ZUMA-2, this should not be a deterrent to the use of KTE-X19,” he said. “I think this will become the preferred option for relapsed or refractory disease,” according to Dr. William. The next step, in his opinion, is to produce “real-world data” showing that the outcomes are as good as the impressive findings from the clinical trial. 

DISCLOSURE: Dr. William has served on an advisory board for Celgene and is institutional primary investigator for an axicabtagene ciloleucel (other Kite CAR T) clinical trial.