DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer and diabetes, today announced that it is one of the first treatment centers certified in the United States to administer tisagenlecleucel (commercial name Kymriah) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy to adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved tisagenlecleucel for its second indication, including the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common form of NHL, high grade B-cell lymphoma and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma.
City of Hope is the only institution in Southern California to currently offer both tisagenlecleucel, which was approved last year for pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and axicabtagene ciloleucel (commercial name Yescarta), the second CAR T cell therapy approved by the FDA, solidifying City of Hope’s position as a leader in this newest form of cancer immunotherapy.
“City of Hope has an impressive legacy of innovation in the cancer space, and our role in making the science of CAR T cell therapy a reality is an example of our commitment to helping ensure that patients around the world have access to the most advanced therapies,” said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., the Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, and leader of the Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute. “Today’s supplemental approval for tisagenlecleucel is yet another important advance in CAR T therapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. In addition to City of Hope’s own clinical development programs, we are proud to be part of an exclusive group of institutions able to provide every commercial CAR T therapy to patients living with these aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers, where other treatments have failed.”
CAR T Expertise at City of Hope
City of Hope is a recognized leader in the advancement of CAR T cell therapies. City of Hope applies its proprietary CAR T cell technology in active preclinical and clinical programs across a range of hematologic cancers and solid tumors, and collaborates with other academic researchers and global biopharmaceutical companies to advance clinical research in areas of high unmet medical need and make their therapies available to patients.
City of Hope’s history with CAR T cell therapy dates back to the late 1990s. Since then, nearly 200 patients have been treated in CAR T trials at City of Hope; the institution was the first to administer CAR T cell therapy locally in the brain to glioblastoma patients through direct injection to the tumor site and/or through infusion in the ventricular system. City of Hope was also the first to offer CAR T trials targeting CD123 in acute myeloid leukemia.
City of Hope, which has one of the most comprehensive CAR T cell clinical research programs in the world, currently has 14 ongoing CAR T clinical trials and plans to open additional solid tumor trials in 2018 for patients with a variety of cancer types, including trials for patients with primary glioblastoma that expresses HER2 protein, patients with HER2-positive breast cancer with metastatic brain disease and patients with prostate cancer. City of Hope’s unique blend of multidisciplinary specialization – encompassing physicians, nurses and intensive care and transfusion medicine experts sharing stem cell transplant expertise – will also benefit CAR T patients, who require intensive medical care after treatment.
Patients interested in learning more about tisagenlecleucel treatment at City of Hope can call 833-310-CART (2278) or visit https://www.cityofhope.org/research/car-t-cell-therapy.
About non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Lymphoma is the most common form of blood cancer, with Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), which accounts for 4 percent of all cancer diagnoses in the United States, being the two main forms. Sixty percent of all NHL cases in the United States are aggressive NHL, with the most common subtype being DLBCL.
Approximately 74,680 people, both children and adults, are expected to be diagnosed with NHL in 2018, according to the American Cancer Society.
NHL includes multiple different subtypes, all originating in the lymphatic system, and occurs when either B or T cell lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, become abnormal, causing such painful symptoms as enlarged lymph nodes, fever and fatigue. Refractory, or treatment-resistant, aggressive NHL grow quickly over time. Historically, patients have had about a 50 percent chance of surviving six months. Patients who are ineligible for or relapse after autologous stem cell transplant are eligible to receive tisagenlecleucel.
About City of Hope
City of Hope is an independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Designated as one of only 49 comprehensive cancer centers, the highest recognition bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, City of Hope is also a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, with research and treatment protocols that advance care throughout the world. City of Hope's main campus is in Duarte, California, just northeast of Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California. It is ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" in cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation, diabetes and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs based on technology developed at the institution.
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