CD20CAR-T Therapy Preemptively Treats Patients with Relapsed/Refractory DLBCL in Partial Remission after CD19CAR-T

Patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (r/r DLBCL) who achieve only a partial remission (PR) following CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CD19CAR-T) face a high risk of progression. This study evaluated the efficacy of CD20CAR-T therapy as a preemptive consolidation approach in this setting. We conducted a retrospective analysis using the Beijing Gobroad Boren Hospital research registry for patients treated with sequential CAR-T cell therapies targeting distinct B-cell antigens. Adult patients with r/r DLBCL who achieved PR after CD19CAR-T and subsequently received CD20CAR-T between 2019 and 2022 were included. Nineteen patients met the eligibility criteria. Following CD20CAR-T, 16 patients (84.2%) achieved complete remission (CR). With a median follow-up of 29.4 months (range, 8.8-43.0 months), the median progressive-free survival (PFS) was 27.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.6 to not reached [NR]), and the median overall survival (OS) was not reached. No severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS, grade ≥3) or severe immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS,grade ≥3) was observed. These data suggest that CD20CAR-T shows promise as a preemptive consolidation therapy in patients with r/r DLBCL in PR after CD19 CAR-T.