CLINICAL NEWS
Conference Coverage
NOVEL TREATMENTS LEAD TO DURABLE
AND PROMISING RESPONSES
his year’s Annual Meeting of
the American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) took place
April 18–22 in Philadelphia. Here, we
present a few of the hematologic
highlights from the 2015 AACR Annual
Meeting, including a new therapy for
patients with Epstein-Barr virus-related
lymphoma, durable responses with singleagent ibrutinib in CLL, and novel treatments under investigation for leukemias
and lymphomas.
Pediatric Leukemia Patients May
Benefit from CAR Therapy
Genetically reprogrammed T cells, which
have been making waves in adult acute
lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), have also
shown promise in pediatric ALL patients,
according to early results from the Pediatric
Leukemia Adoptive Therapy-02 (PLAT02) trial. The findings were presented by
Michael C. Jensen, MD, director of Ben
Towne Center for Childhood Cancer
Research at Seattle Children’s Research
Institute at the American Association for
Cancer Research meeting.
In the PLAT-02 trial, researchers from
the Seattle’s Children’s Hospital, led by
principal investigator Rebecca Gardner,
MD, administered reengineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to 22
pediatric patients with ALL who had
either relapsed after a bone marrow transplantation or who were unable to achieve
remission to proceed with a bone marrow
transplantation – a patient group that has
a 10 to 20 percent chance of survival with
standard treatment.
Using highly sensitive tests to detect
minute amounts of cancer cells, Dr. Gardner
and colleagues confirmed that 20 of the 22
patients (91%) treated thus far in the clinical
trial achieved complete remission.
“Some of our earliest treated patients are
now one year post-therapy and are still in
remission,” Dr. Gardner said. “These patients
have remained in remission without further
chemotherapy or other treatments. This
gives us hope that, eventually, we will be able
to use this therapy in patients who are newly
diagnosed, reducing the need for toxic
therapies and bone marrow transplant.”
The first phase of this trial was designed
to investigate the safety of cancer immunotherapy. The second phase of the trial is
slated to begin in late 2015 and will allow
more patients to be treated.
“This study is helping direct us toward
more targeted therapies for pediatric
ALL, with the ultimate goal of more
efficacy and less long-term toxicity,” Dr.
Gardner told ASH Clinical News. Because
of the limited follow-up, the long-term
durability of the responses has not yet
been demonstrated, but investigators
are encouraged by the results. “As we
learn more about the use of CD19 CAR
therapy in pediatric ALL, I am hopeful
that we can make this available sooner
in the course of treatment, and hopefully
move it into front-line therapy.” ●
REFERENCE
Jensen MC. Advancing CAR T cell immunotherapy in pediatric oncology.
Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting, April 21, 2015.
Philadelphia’s landmark historic City Hall building
“ s we learn
A
more about the
use of CD19
CAR therapy in
pediatric ALL, I
am hopeful we
can make this
available sooner
in the course of
treatment.”
—REBECCA GARDNER, MD
ASHClinicalNews.org
ASH Clinical News
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