Axicabtagene Ciloleucel in the Management of Follicular Lymphoma: Current Perspectives on Clinical Utility, Patient Selection and Reported Outcomes

Abstract

Razan Mohty,1 Mohamed A Kharfan-Dabaja,2 Julio C Chavez3 1Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA; 2Division of Hematology-Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA; 3Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USACorrespondence: Julio C Chavez, Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center, 12902 Magnolia Drive FOB, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA, Email [email protected]: Axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) is an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) that has shown efficacy in B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It has shown high efficacy in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) even in the presence of high risk features (early relapse, heavily pretreated patients and bulky disease). Treatment options for R/R follicular lymphoma do not offer long-term remissions, especially in the third-line setting. Axi-cel was studied in R/R FL in the ZUMA-5 study, which showed high response rates with durable remissions. Axi-cel was associated with anticipated but manageable toxicities. Long-term follow up may be able to inform the potential for cure of FL. Axi-cel should be part of the standard of care options for R/R FL beyond second line.Keywords: axicabtagene ciloleucel, follicular lymphoma, immunotherapy, cellular therapy

Keywords

• axicabtagene ciloleucel
• follicular lymphoma
• immunotherapy
• cellular therapy