Researchers from the Institut de Recerca de Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau) in Barcelona, in collaboration with the Hospital de Sant Pau and the Institut de Recerca contra la Leucèmia Josep Carreras, have developed a new CAR-T cell therapy that has shown «high efficacy» in patients with refractory CD30+ lymphoma.
In a phase I clinical trial, the results of which have been published in the journal ‘Blood’, it is revealed that this new CART30 «promotes the expansion of memory T cells, leading to long-lasting responses and better clinical outcomes in treated patients,» IR Sant Pau reported in a statement on Tuesday.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other CD30+ lymphomas have been «a challenge for the medical community, especially in refractory or relapsed cases, where conventional treatments have shown limited efficacy so far,» the center points out.
The research team has created HSP-CAR30, an «optimized» version of CAR-T therapy that incorporates new strategies to improve the functionality and durability of therapeutic cells.
This development «represents a milestone in the fight against this type of cancer» and opens up new prospects for patients who previously had very limited options.
RESULTS
The phase I clinical trial included 10 patients with classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma or CD30-positive T-cell lymphoma in relapse or refractory, with «very positive» results.
According to the director of the Hematologic Oncology and Transplant Research Group at IR Sant Pau and principal investigator of the study, Javier Briones, «the most surprising thing is that the overall response rate was 100%, something very uncommon in patients who have gone through multiple lines of treatment.»
«Additionally, 50% of patients achieved complete remission, meaning that the disease completely disappeared in imaging studies and clinical analyses,» he explains.
RESPONSE AND SAFETY
As for the durability of the response, 60% of patients who achieved complete response maintained complete remission «without signs of relapse» after a median follow-up of 34 months.
The treatment showed a «favorable profile» from a safety perspective, with no dose-limiting toxicities detected: the adverse effects observed were mild and manageable, reinforcing the viability of this therapy for clinical application.