Five-year follow-up of patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma treated with anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy in ZUMA-2, Cohorts 1 and 2

BACKGROUND: Treatment with brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel), an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, demonstrated a high objective response rate (93%) and complete response rate (67%) in 60 patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (R/R MCL) treated in the pivotal ZUMA-2 Cohort 1 study. Subsequently, brexu-cel was approved in the United States and European Union for the treatment of adults with R/R MCL (after ≥ 2 prior therapies in the European Union). Here we report 5-year outcomes from the pivotal ZUMA-2 Cohort 1 study (N = 68), as well as two previously unpublished ZUMA-2 data sets, long-term outcomes in 10 patients who received axi-cel in Cohort 1 and in 14 patients who received a lower dose of brexu-cel in Cohort 2. METHODS: anti-CD19 CAR T cells/kg (brexu-cel). RESULTS: Median follow-up for the pivotal cohort (N = 68) was 67.8 months (range, 58.2-88.6) with a median DOR of 36.5 months (n = 60), per investigator review. Median OS was 46.5 months (95% CI, 24.5-60.2; N = 68) and was 60.2 months (95% CI, 42.8-not estimable) in patients with complete response (n = 46). The 5-year incidence of cumulative relapse-related and non-relapse-related mortality was 40% (24/60) and 22% (13/60) in responders, respectively. Descriptive outcomes for axi-cel-treated patients (N = 10) and Cohort 2 (N = 14) are reported herein. No Grade 5 cytokine-release syndrome or neurologic events, subsequent T-cell malignancies, or new safety signals were reported in any patient. CONCLUSIONS: Patients in ZUMA-2 continued to have durable responses after 5 years of follow-up with predictable long-term safety, supporting the continued use of brexu-cel in R/R MCL. Interpretations of outcomes in axi-cel-treated patients and Cohort 2 are not feasible due to small patient numbers and unmatched baseline characteristics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02601313 and NCT05041309.

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Journal
Journal of Hematology & Oncology
Published
2026-04-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13045-026-01797-4
Primary Topic
CAR-T cell therapy research
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article
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article

Five-year follow-up of patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma treated with anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy in ZUMA-2, Cohorts 1 and 2

Ian W. Flinn, Mengru Chang, Ioana Kloos, Rhine R. Shen et al.
Journal of Hematology & Oncology
CAR-T cell therapy research
article

Five-year follow-up of patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma treated with anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy in ZUMA-2, Cohorts 1 and 2

Ian W. Flinn, Mengru Chang, Ioana Kloos, Rhine R. Shen, André Goy, Wangshu Zhang, Rita Damico Khalid, Frederick L. Locke, Caron A. Jacobson, Amer Beitinjaneh, Michael L. Wang, Max S. Topp, Marie José Kersten, John M. Timmerman, John M. Pagel, Javier Muñoz, Dan Zheng, Brian T. Hill, Patrick M. Reagan, Edouard Forcade, Roch Houot, David B. Miklos
article en

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Treatment with brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel), an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, demonstrated a high objective response rate (93%) and complete response rate (67%) in 60 patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (R/R MCL) treated in the pivotal ZUMA-2 Cohort 1 study. Subsequently, brexu-cel was approved in the United States and European Union for the treatment of adults with R/R MCL (after ≥ 2 prior therapies in the European Union). Here we report 5-year outcomes from the pivotal ZUMA-2 Cohort 1 study (N = 68), as well as two previously unpublished ZUMA-2 data sets, long-term outcomes in 10 patients who received axi-cel in Cohort 1 and in 14 patients who received a lower dose of brexu-cel in Cohort 2. METHODS: anti-CD19 CAR T cells/kg (brexu-cel). RESULTS: Median follow-up for the pivotal cohort (N = 68) was 67.8 months (range, 58.2-88.6) with a median DOR of 36.5 months (n = 60), per investigator review. Median OS was 46.5 months (95% CI, 24.5-60.2; N = 68) and was 60.2 months (95% CI, 42.8-not estimable) in patients with complete response (n = 46). The 5-year incidence of cumulative relapse-related and non-relapse-related mortality was 40% (24/60) and 22% (13/60) in responders, respectively. Descriptive outcomes for axi-cel-treated patients (N = 10) and Cohort 2 (N = 14) are reported herein. No Grade 5 cytokine-release syndrome or neurologic events, subsequent T-cell malignancies, or new safety signals were reported in any patient. CONCLUSIONS: Patients in ZUMA-2 continued to have durable responses after 5 years of follow-up with predictable long-term safety, supporting the continued use of brexu-cel in R/R MCL. Interpretations of outcomes in axi-cel-treated patients and Cohort 2 are not feasible due to small patient numbers and unmatched baseline characteristics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02601313 and NCT05041309.

Journal of Hematology & Oncology
Cleveland Clinic (US), Hackensack University Medical Center (US), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US), University of Miami (US), Inserm (FR), University of California, Los Angeles (US), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux (FR), Moffitt Cancer Center (US), Université Rennes 2 (FR), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US), Universitätsklinikum Würzburg (DE), Tennessee Oncology (US), Mayo Clinic in Florida (US), Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Rochester (US), Université de Rennes (FR), University of Amsterdam (NL), Stanford University (US)
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
CAR-T cell therapy research
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