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Ciltabactagen autoleucel, known under the trade name Carvykti, is said to reduce the risk of progression of multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer, by 74%. The study results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Medical Oncology, ASCO 2023.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow characterized by the excessive proliferation in the bone marrow of a type of white blood cell, the plasma cells. It can damage bones, kidneys and the immune system. It is a rare cancer since it affects 7 out of 100,000 people each year. Treatment is based on chemotherapy combined with targeted therapy or supportive drugs such as corticosteroids, stem cell transplantation, or surgery. It aims to slow or halt the progression of the disease for a long time.
The increase in the number of cases of multiple myeloma and the number of patients whose disease no longer responds to standard treatment has prompted researchers to test a new, more effective treatment: Carvykti. This treatment genetically alters the body’s immune cells to better fight cancer.
A study conducted on more than 400 patients
According to a study published Monday, June 5, Carvykti reduces the risk of disease progression or death by 74%. This promising result comes from a clinical trial conducted over 16 months on 419 patients suffering from multiple myeloma and whose conventional treatment (lenalidomide) had proved ineffective. Half of them had received Carvykti and the other half the drugs generally prescribed to treat this disease.
Specifically, Carvykti is a treatment with CAR-T (Chimeric Antigenic Receptor – T) cells, an immunotherapy strategy that aims to fight cancer by relying on the patient’s own immune system. CAR-T cells are T lymphocytes genetically modified to “educate” them to eliminate cancer cells. They are then reinjected into the sick patient.
Reported side effects
CAR-T cell therapy can cause unwanted side effects. The study indicates that the number of serious to life-threatening side effects was slightly higher in the group that received Carvykti than in the other group (97% versus 94%). More than half of them had their immune systems overreact and about 5% of them suffered from neurotoxicity syndrome. The clinical trial is continuing with long-term patient follow-up to identify the effects and impacts of the treatment on quality of life.