Ten-Year Outcomes after CAR T-Cell Therapy for B-Cell Lymphomas

Area of Science:

• Hematology
• Oncology
• Immunotherapy

Background:

• Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is established for relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
• Long-term outcomes and curative potential of this therapy require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the long-term outcomes of anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy (tisagenlecleucel) in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
• To assess lymphoma-free survival, progression-free survival, overall survival, and the incidence of secondary malignancies and non-relapse mortality up to 10 years post-treatment.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 38 patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas received tisagenlecleucel.
• Long-term outcomes were analyzed with a data cutoff of October 1, 2025, with a median follow-up of 10.1 years.
• Lymphoma-free survival, progression-free survival, overall survival, and non-relapse mortality were estimated using the Aalen-Johansen method.

Main Results:

• No relapses occurred beyond 5.4 years post-treatment.
• 10-year lymphoma-free survival rates were 32% for large B-cell lymphoma and 47% for follicular lymphoma.
• 10-year overall survival rates were 17% for large B-cell lymphoma and 50% for follicular lymphoma. CAR-transgene persistence correlated with long-term response.

Conclusions:

• Tisagenlecleucel provides durable, decade-long remissions in a significant proportion of heavily pretreated B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients.
• Approximately one-third of large B-cell lymphoma patients and nearly half of follicular lymphoma patients achieved long-term remission.
• Long-term safety profile showed low incidence of late hematologic toxicities, but a 21% cumulative incidence of second primary cancers was observed.