Efficacy and safety of engineered TCR-T cell therapy (afami-cel, lete-cel) in pediatric synovial sarcoma.

11569 Background: Synovial sarcoma (SyS) represents ~ 5% of adult soft tissue sarcomas, however, SyS is the most common non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma in the pediatric population. Both lete-cel, an engineered TCR-T cell therapy targeting NY-ESO-1, and afami-cel, an engineered TCR-T cell therapy targeting MAGE-A4, have shown efficacy and an acceptable safety profile in adult patients with SyS. We report here the largest cohort of pediatric SyS patients treated with either afami-cel or lete-cel. Methods: Pediatric SyS patients (pts) were treated on four phase II trials: lete-cel SyS Pilot study (NCT01343043), lete-cel IGNYTE-ESO trial (NCT03967223), afami-cel SPEARHEAD-1 (NCT04044768) and SPEARHEAD-3 (NCT05642455). Initial data from SPEARHEAD-3 will be available and added at the time of presentation. Eligibility for this analysis: advanced (unresectable/metastatic) SyS, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*02, NY-ESO-1 or MAGE-A4 expression, baseline ECOG 0–1 and received any dose of lete-cel or afami-cel as a single infusion. Key efficacy endpoints: independent review-assessed overall response rate (ORR) per RECIST v1.1, best overall response, duration of response (DoR). Key safety endpoints: adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, AEs of special interest (ex. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS)). Data is presented separately for lete-cel and afami-cel. Results: Seven pediatric pts (age 10 to 17) were treated with lete-cel for advanced disease. The median lete-cel dose was 4.9 x 10 9 transduced cells. The ORR was 43% (3/7 pts, 2 PR, 1 CR). The duration of response was 2.83, 7.39, and 7.39 months respectively; one response was ongoing at the time of this analysis. Pediatric pharmacokinetics and exposure-response data were in agreement with data from adult pts. Seven pediatric pts (age 13 to 16) were treated with afami-cel for advanced disease. The median afami-cel dose was 8.2 x 10 9 transduced cells. The ORR was 28.6% (2/7 pts, 2 PR). The duration of response was 4.7 and 17.4 months respectively; one response was ongoing at the time of this analysis. Similar pharmacokinetics were observed in pediatric pts compared to adult pts. CRS was common occurring in >50% of pts for both lete-cel and afami-cel; events were grade 1 or 2, except one patient with lete-cel experiencing grade 3 CRS. Cytopenias after lymphodepletion and T cell infusion were the most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events (>30% of pts) for both therapies. Conclusions: Engineered TCR-T cell therapy targeting NY-ESO-1 (lete-cel) or MAGE-A4 (afami-cel) has shown responses and durable responses in the pediatric SyS population. The safety profile in this age group is consistent with that observed in the adult population. TCR-T represents a potential new treatment paradigm for pediatric SyS patients. Further studies should help to determine the optimal timing for this cellular therapy. Additional Information: Coauthor Brian Van Tine, MD, died Nov 2025. Clinical trial information: NCT01343043 , NCT03967223 , NCT04044768 , NCT05642455 .

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Journal
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Published
2026-05-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2026.44.16_suppl.11569
Primary Topic
CAR-T cell therapy research
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article
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article

Efficacy and safety of engineered TCR-T cell therapy (afami-cel, lete-cel) in pediatric synovial sarcoma.

Nadège Corradini, Sneha Ramakrishna, Samuel John, Scott M. Schuetze et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology
CAR-T cell therapy research
article

Efficacy and safety of engineered TCR-T cell therapy (afami-cel, lete-cel) in pediatric synovial sarcoma.

Nadège Corradini, Sneha Ramakrishna, Samuel John, Scott M. Schuetze, Amy E. Armstrong, J. Haanen, Warren Chow, Michael J. Nathenson, Erin Van Winkle, Brian Andrew Van Tine, Beth Ireland, Véronique Minard-Colin, A. Ferrari, Dennis Williams, John Glod, Jean-Yves Blay, Jane Bai, Sandra P. D'Angelo
article en

Abstract

11569 Background: Synovial sarcoma (SyS) represents ~ 5% of adult soft tissue sarcomas, however, SyS is the most common non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma in the pediatric population. Both lete-cel, an engineered TCR-T cell therapy targeting NY-ESO-1, and afami-cel, an engineered TCR-T cell therapy targeting MAGE-A4, have shown efficacy and an acceptable safety profile in adult patients with SyS. We report here the largest cohort of pediatric SyS patients treated with either afami-cel or lete-cel. Methods: Pediatric SyS patients (pts) were treated on four phase II trials: lete-cel SyS Pilot study (NCT01343043), lete-cel IGNYTE-ESO trial (NCT03967223), afami-cel SPEARHEAD-1 (NCT04044768) and SPEARHEAD-3 (NCT05642455). Initial data from SPEARHEAD-3 will be available and added at the time of presentation. Eligibility for this analysis: advanced (unresectable/metastatic) SyS, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*02, NY-ESO-1 or MAGE-A4 expression, baseline ECOG 0–1 and received any dose of lete-cel or afami-cel as a single infusion. Key efficacy endpoints: independent review-assessed overall response rate (ORR) per RECIST v1.1, best overall response, duration of response (DoR). Key safety endpoints: adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, AEs of special interest (ex. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS)). Data is presented separately for lete-cel and afami-cel. Results: Seven pediatric pts (age 10 to 17) were treated with lete-cel for advanced disease. The median lete-cel dose was 4.9 x 10 9 transduced cells. The ORR was 43% (3/7 pts, 2 PR, 1 CR). The duration of response was 2.83, 7.39, and 7.39 months respectively; one response was ongoing at the time of this analysis. Pediatric pharmacokinetics and exposure-response data were in agreement with data from adult pts. Seven pediatric pts (age 13 to 16) were treated with afami-cel for advanced disease. The median afami-cel dose was 8.2 x 10 9 transduced cells. The ORR was 28.6% (2/7 pts, 2 PR). The duration of response was 4.7 and 17.4 months respectively; one response was ongoing at the time of this analysis. Similar pharmacokinetics were observed in pediatric pts compared to adult pts. CRS was common occurring in >50% of pts for both lete-cel and afami-cel; events were grade 1 or 2, except one patient with lete-cel experiencing grade 3 CRS. Cytopenias after lymphodepletion and T cell infusion were the most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events (>30% of pts) for both therapies. Conclusions: Engineered TCR-T cell therapy targeting NY-ESO-1 (lete-cel) or MAGE-A4 (afami-cel) has shown responses and durable responses in the pediatric SyS population. The safety profile in this age group is consistent with that observed in the adult population. TCR-T represents a potential new treatment paradigm for pediatric SyS patients. Further studies should help to determine the optimal timing for this cellular therapy. Additional Information: Coauthor Brian Van Tine, MD, died Nov 2025. Clinical trial information: NCT01343043 , NCT03967223 , NCT04044768 , NCT05642455 .

Journal of Clinical OncologyVol. 44(16_suppl)
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US), Washington University in St. Louis (US), University of Michigan (US), Dutch Cancer Society (NL), Institut Gustave Roussy (FR), The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NL), Institut d’Hématologie et d’Oncologie Pédiatrique (FR), Southwestern Medical Center (US), Centre Léon Bérard (FR), Adaptimmune (United Kingdom) (GB), Stanford Medicine (US), UC Irvine Health (US), World Education (US), National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (US), Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (IT), Southwestern Medical Center (US), The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
CAR-T cell therapy research
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