Response to CAR-T Cell Therapy Similar for Minority Patients

TUESDAY, May 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Real-world experience suggests that the response to chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy does not differ significantly for minority versus nonminority patients, according to a research letter published online April 28 in Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Astha Thakkar, M.D., from Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York, and colleagues conducted a real-world exploratory retrospective cohort study involving 26 minority patients (17 Hispanic, nine African American) and 20 nonminority patients (16 Caucasian, four other) treated at a single center between 2015 and 2021.

The researchers found that 58, 19, and 23 percent of patients in the minority group achieved a complete response, partial response, and had progression of disease, respectively, after CAR-T cell therapy, compared with 70, 20, and 10 percent of patients, respectively, in the nonminority group. When compared by Fisher's exact test, no difference was observed between the groups with regard to response to CAR-T cell therapy and tolerability. Progression-free survival did not differ between the groups (median not reached in the minority group versus 11.9 months in the nonminority group), nor did overall survival (46.3 months and not reached, respectively).

"We are able to effectively treat people from historically marginalized groups using CAR-T; our hope is that more people from a diverse range of racial and ethnic backgrounds will be included in clinical trials," a coauthor said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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