Brexucabtagene Autoleucel for Relapsed/Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma: Real World Experience from the US Lymphoma CAR T Consortium
Authors: Wang Yucai , Jain Preetesh , Locke Frederick L. , Munoz Javier , Maurer Matthew J. , Beitinjaneh Amer , Frank Matthew J. , Dahiya Saurabh , McGuirk Joseph P. , Jacobs Miriam T. , Goy Andre H. , Vose Julie M. , Hill Brian T. , Oluwole Olalekan O. , Deol Abhinav , Shah Bijal D. , Paludo Jonas , Wang Trent , Lekakis Lazaros J. , Miklos David B. , Rapoport Aaron P. , Ghobadi Armin , Neelapu Sattva S. , Lin Yi , Wang Michael , Jain Michael D. 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Introduction: Brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel) was approved by US FDA for relapsed/refractory (R/R) mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) on July 24, 2020 based on results from the pivotal ZUMA-2 (NCT02601313) study, in which an objective response rate (ORR) of 93% and a complete response (CR) rate of 67% were achieved among the 60 treated patients with at least 7 months of follow-up. The study had stringent eligibility criteria, including prior treatment with a BTK inhibitor (BTKi), and only allowed BTKi and/or corticosteroid for bridging therapy. We report here the safety and efficacy of brexu-cel in standard of care practice among centers in the US Lymphoma CAR-T Consortium.
Methods: Fourteen centers participated in this retrospective study. Patients who underwent leukapheresis by 6/15/2021 with an intent to manufacture brexu-cel were included. Baseline clinical characteristics, bridging therapy, adverse events after brexu-cel infusion, and post-infusion outcome data were collected. Eligibility for ZUMA-2 was retrospectively determined based on characteristics at the time of leukapheresis. Duration of response (time from initial response to disease progression or death from any cause), progression-free survival (PFS; time from infusion to disease progression or death from any cause) and overall survival (OS; time from infusion to death from any cause) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results: At the data cut-off date of 7/9/2021, 107 patients underwent leukapheresis, among whom 93 (87%) completed brexu-cel infusion, 2 (2%) were waiting for infusion, and 12 (11%) did not receive infusion (manufacture failure n=6, organ dysfunction n=1, death n=5).
Baseline clinical characteristics of the 93 infused patients are shown in Table 1. The median age was 67 years and 81% were male. 32% had high risk simplified MIPI, 77% had Ki-67≥30%, 45% had blastoid or pleomorphic variant, 46% had TP53 alteration, 29% had complex karyotype, and 7% had CNS involvement. The median number of prior lines of therapy was 3. Eighty-two percent had prior BTKi treatment, and 44% had refractory disease to the last line of therapy. Sixty-eight (73%) patients would not have met ZUMA-2 eligibility criteria. Reasons for ineligibility included ECOG PS ≥2 (n=8), CNS involvement by lymphoma (n=6), prior therapies (n=33), cytopenia (n=11), renal or hepatic dysfunction (n=13), other medical conditions (n=18), and active infection (n=2).
Sixty (65%) of the 93 patients received bridging therapy, which included BTKi (n=27), venetoclax (n=14), chemotherapy (n=19), CD20 antibody (n=26), lenalidomide (n=3), corticosteroid (n=9), and radiotherapy (n=13). Only 13 (14%) patients received BTKi or corticosteroid alone as in ZUMA-2.
Among 93 infused patients, cytokine release syndrome (CRS) rate was 88% (8% grade ≥3), and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) rate was 58% (33% grade ≥3). No grade 5 CRS or ICANS occurred. Medications used to manage CRS and ICANS were 71 (76%) for tocilizumab, 64 (69%) for steroid, and 16 (17%) for anakinra. Twenty-four (26%) patients required ICU admission, 9 patients required vasopressors, and 4 patients required mechanical ventilation.
With a median follow-up of 3.0 months (range 0.1-9.6), day 30 response was evaluable in 81 patients, and the ORR was 86%, with 64% CR (Table 2). The ORR/CR rates were 94%/70% for blastoid or pleomorphic variants, 82%/50% for TP53 altered, 84%/61% for BTKi-exposed, 94%/76% for BTKi-naïve, and 88%/67% for those not meeting ZUMA-2 eligibility criteria. The ORR/CR rates were 87%/69% for patients who received bridging therapy and 85%/56% for those who did not. For patients who achieved a response at day 30, the rate of continued response at 3-month was 83.7% (95% CI 68.3%-92.0%). The 3-month PFS rate was 80.6% (95% CI 68.6%-88.4%), and the 6-month OS rate was 82.1% (95% CI 67.7%-90.5%).
Conclusions: This multicenter retrospective study demonstrated encouraging safety and efficacy data of brexu-cel in R/R MCL in the real world practice. The CRS and ICANS incidences were comparable to those reported in ZUMA-2, but use of tocilizumab and steroid was more frequent than in ZUMA-2. Although 73% of the patients would have been ineligible for ZUMA-2, the ORR and CR rate were comparable to those reported in ZUMA-2. Longer follow-up is necessary to confirm long term safety and efficacy.
YW, PJ and FLL are co-first authors, and YL, MW and MDJ are co-senior authors.
Figure 1 Figure 1.

Disclosures
Wang: Novartis: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Eli Lilly: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; InnoCare: Research Funding; LOXO Oncology: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; MorphoSys: Research Funding. Jain: Kite: Consultancy; Lilly: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Locke: Gerson Lehrman Group: Consultancy; Emerging Therapy Solutions: Consultancy; EcoR1: Consultancy; Cowen: Consultancy; GammaDelta Therapeutics: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role, Research Funding; Umoja: Consultancy, Other; Janssen: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; Wugen: Consultancy, Other; Legend Biotech: Consultancy, Other; Takeda: Consultancy, Other; Novartis: Consultancy, Other, Research Funding; Moffitt Cancer Center: Patents & Royalties: field of cellular immunotherapy; Iovance Biotherapeutics: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; Calibr: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; Cellular Biomedicine Group: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; Amgen: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role; Allogene Therapeutics: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role, Research Funding. Munoz: Bayer, Gilead/Kite Pharma, Celgene, Merck, Portola, Incyte, Genentech, Pharmacyclics, Seattle Genetics, Janssen, and Millennium: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company, Kyowa, Bayer, Pharmacyclics/Janssen, Seagen, Acrotech/Aurobindo, Beigene, Verastem, AstraZeneca, Celgene/BMS, Genentech/Roche.: Speakers Bureau; Targeted Oncology, OncView, Kyowa Kirin, Physicians' Education Resource, and Seagen: Honoraria; Pharmacyclics/Abbvie, Bayer, Kite, a Gilead Company, Pfizer, Janssen, Juno/Celgene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Kyowa Kirin, Alexion, Fosun Kite, Innovent, Seagen, BeiGene, Debiopharm, Epizyme, Karyopharm, ADC Therapeutics, Servier, and Genmab: Consultancy, Other: advisory role; Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease: Other: Study investigator. Maurer: BMS: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Morphosys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Nanostring: Research Funding. Beitinjaneh: Kite/Gilead: Other: Ad Board Event Attendee. Frank: Allogene Therapeutics: Research Funding; Kite-Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Research Funding. Dahiya: Miltenyi Biotech: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Atara Biotherapeutics: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy. McGuirk: Magenta Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Bellicum Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Fresenius Biotech: Research Funding; Astelllas Pharma: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Allovir: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pluristem Therapeutics: Research Funding; Juno Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Kite/ Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: travel accommodations, expense, Kite a Gilead company, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; EcoR1 Capital: Consultancy. Goy: Vincerx pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Michael J Hennessey Associates INC: Consultancy; Elsevier's Practice Update Oncology, Intellisphere, LLC(Targeted Oncology): Consultancy; Phamacyclics: Research Funding; Vincerx: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Rosewell Park: Consultancy; Kite Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AbbVie/Pharmacyclics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Research Funding; Incyte: Honoraria; Hoffman la Roche: Consultancy; LLC(Targeted Oncology): Consultancy; Xcenda: Consultancy, Honoraria; OncLive Peer Exchange: Honoraria; Infinity/Verastem: Research Funding; Genentech/Hoffman la Roche: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Medscape: Consultancy; Xcenda: Consultancy; Bristol Meyers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Acerta: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bristol Meyers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AbbVie/Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Elsevier PracticeUpdate: Oncology: Consultancy, Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genomic Testing Cooperative: Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Leadership role; Physicians' Education Resource: Consultancy, Other: Meeting/travel support; MorphoSys: Honoraria, Other; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; COTA (Cancer Outcome Tracking Analysis): Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Leadership role; Hackensack Meridian Health, Regional Cancer Care Associates/OMI: Current Employment. Vose: Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria, Research Funding. Hill: Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel Support, Research Funding; Celgene (BMS): Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gentenech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Beigene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Incyte/Morphysis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZenica: Consultancy, Honoraria; Epizyme: Consultancy, Honoraria. Oluwole: Pfizer: Consultancy; Curio Science: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Deol: Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy. Shah: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Other: Expenses; Novartis: Consultancy, Other: Expenses; Bristol-Myers Squibb/Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Expenses; BeiGene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy; Precision Biosciences: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Expenses, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics/Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Expenses; Acrotech/Spectrum: Honoraria; Servier Genetics: Other; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy. Paludo: Karyopharm: Research Funding. Miklos: Pharmacyclics: Patents & Royalties; Adaptive Biotechnologies, Novartis, Juno/Celgene-BMS, Kite, a Gilead Company, Pharmacyclics-AbbVie, Janssen, Pharmacyclics, AlloGene, Precision Bioscience, Miltenyi Biotech, Adicet, Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pharmacyclics, Amgen, Kite, a Gilead Company, Novartis, Roche, Genentech, Becton Dickinson, Isoplexis, Miltenyi, Juno-Celgene-Bristol Myers Squibb, Allogene, Precision Biosciences, Adicet, Adaptive Biotechnologies: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company, Amgen, Atara, Wugen, Celgene, Novartis, Juno-Celgene-Bristol Myers Squibb, Allogene, Precision Bioscience, Adicet, Pharmacyclics, Janssen, Takeda, Adaptive Biotechnologies and Miltenyi Biotechnologies: Consultancy. Ghobadi: Wugen: Consultancy; Atara: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Neelapu: Kite, a Gilead Company, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Celgene, Pfizer, Allogene Therapeutics, Cell Medica/Kuur, Incyte, Precision Biosciences, Legend Biotech, Adicet Bio, Calibr, Unum Therapeutics and Bluebird Bio: Honoraria; Takeda Pharmaceuticals and related to cell therapy: Patents & Royalties; Kite, a Gilead Company, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Celgene, Pfizer, Allogene, Kuur, Incyte, Precision BioSciences, Legend, Adicet Bio, Calibr, and Unum Therapeutics: Other: personal fees; Kite, a Gilead Company, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Poseida, Cellectis, Celgene, Karus Therapeutics, Unum Therapeutics (Cogent Biosciences), Allogene, Precision BioSciences, Acerta and Adicet Bio: Research Funding. Lin: Legend: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Vineti: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sorrento: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Wang: Moffit Cancer Center: Honoraria; Chinese Medical Association: Honoraria; InnoCare: Consultancy, Research Funding; Epizyme: Consultancy, Honoraria; Hebei Cancer Prevention Federation: Honoraria; Newbridge Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria; Genentech: Consultancy; OMI: Honoraria; Physicians Education Resources (PER): Honoraria; Clinical Care Options: Honoraria; CAHON: Honoraria; VelosBio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding; CStone: Consultancy; Loxo Oncology: Consultancy, Research Funding; BioInvent: Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy, Research Funding; DTRM Biopharma (Cayman) Limited: Consultancy; BGICS: Honoraria; Bayer Healthcare: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Molecular Templates: Research Funding; Imedex: Honoraria; Miltenyi Biomedicine GmbH: Consultancy, Honoraria; Dava Oncology: Honoraria; Oncternal: Consultancy, Research Funding; Lilly: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Anticancer Association: Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; The First Afflicted Hospital of Zhejiang University: Honoraria; BeiGene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Scripps: Honoraria; Mumbai Hematology Group: Honoraria; Acerta Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Jain: BMS, Kite/Gilead, Novartis, Precision Biosciences, Takeda: Consultancy.