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CAR T-cell therapy effective, but serious toxicities and high cost are considerations

March 27, 2018
  • Advising on this article:
  • Gary C. Yee

KEY POINT

A single infusion of tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah—Novartis) administered to pediatric patients and young adults with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) resulted in a highly durable remission rate, according to results of a Phase II study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

SOURCES

Maude SL, et al. Tisagenlecleucel in children and young adults with B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(5):439–48.

Bach PB, et al. FDA approval of tisagenlecleucel: Promise and complexities of a $475,000 cancer drug. JAMA. 2017;318(19):1861–2.

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