University Hospitals First in Ohio to Treat Patients with Two FDA-Approved CAR T Cancer Therapies

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Oncologists at University Hospitals (UH) have two new powerful tools in the fight against cancer following the announcement that Abecma & Breyanzi, from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), are currently being used to treat patients at UH Seidman Cancer Center. The CAR T treatments, for multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, offer hope for patients who have exhausted several other treatment options.

“Providing these latest CAR T-cell therapies to our patients is just another way UH Seidman Cancer Center is leading the way in immunotherapy,” says Ted Teknos, MD, President and Chief Scientific Director of UH Seidman. “Last fall, the Wesley Center for Immunotherapy at UH Seidman was named in honor of Kimberly and Joseph Wesley. The Wesley Family donated $10 million to support groundbreaking research to bring new, life-extending immunotherapy treatments to patients. The research and clinical trials performed in the Wesley Center for Immunotherapy pave the way for new CAR T-cell therapies like Abecma and Breyanzi to become FDA approved and the standard of care as a treatment option for cancer patients.”

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy uses the power of a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. It works by taking a patient’s own white blood cells, called T-cells, and reprogramming them so that they can fight cancer cells.

After an initial procedure to remove T-cells from the patient’s blood, the blood cells are sent to a lab where they are genetically modified. They are then infused back into the patient’s body. Once inside, the modified immune cells are better able to recognize, attack and kill the cancer cells. They become “living drugs,” specifically programmed to destroy that patient’s unique cancer cells.

Breyanzi is an intravenous infusion that is FDA approved for patients with non-Hodgkin’s diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that has relapsed or is refractory (treatment-resistant) after having at least two other kinds of treatment.

“Breyanzi is the third CAR T FDA approved for relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic chemo-immunotherapy. This cellular therapy, along with our in-house CAR T cell therapies, broadens the potential curative treatments for our patients. We are glad to be the first in Ohio to deliver this product to our patients and it speaks to the efficiency and expertise of our transplant and cellular therapy team at UH Seidman Cancer Center.” says oncologist and hematologist Leland Metheny, MD.

Lymphoma in adults is usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and/or stem cell transplant. While these treatments can be very successful in many patients, in some cases, the disease is resistant to those treatment options. In cases such as these, an immune system therapy such as CAR T-cell therapy can be the ideal option.

The second newly FDA approved CAR T treatment currently available to UH patients is Abecma, by BMS, which is used to fight multiple myeloma, a cancer that begins in white blood cells that produce antibodies, also called plasma cells. This new therapy is made by genetically engineering a patient’s own immune cells to target BCMA, a molecule almost exclusively expressed on multiple myeloma cells, to mount a powerful, lethal attack against cancer cells. Multiple myeloma typically occurs in bone marrow in the spine, pelvic bones, ribs and areas of the shoulders and hips. Each individual case is different but treatment can involve drug therapy, radiation, stem cell transplant or surgery.

Ehsan Malek, MD an oncologist and hematologist at UH Seidman who treats myeloma, says, “I commonly encounter scenarios that patients are in critical need for a drug with new mechanism of action to control the rampant disease. Now, with approval of Abecma, as the first-in-class CAR T-cell that targets BCMA, we are able to deliver a single-infusion and effective personalized therapy to achieve long remissions without the need for continues therapy. I think what makes CAR T-cell unique is that patients can enjoy a fairly long treatment-free period, which has not been a common option for patients with multiple myeloma so far.”

For more information call UH Seidman Cancer Center 216-844-5432 (toll-free at 800-641-2422).

To schedule an appointment with a UH Seidman Cancer Center physician, call 216-844-3951.

Click on the links for more information on Abecma or Breyanzi.