Lisocabtagene Maraleucel Versus Axicabtagene Ciloleucel: Efficacy and Toxicity in a Real-World Setting

CD19 CAR-T therapy has revolutionized the management of high-risk and relapsed/refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) but remains limited by significant toxicities leading to morbidity/mortality and high resource utilization. Single-arm studies have suggested differences in efficacy and toxicity across FDA-approved CD19 CAR-T products. A matching-adjusted indirect treatment comparison showed comparable efficacy and more favorable safety with lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) compared to axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), but was limited to clinical trial patients (pts) and suffered from an absence of patient-level data (Maloney, J Hematol Oncol, 2021). In the absence of randomized clinical trial data, adjusted comparative analyses using pt-level data are critically needed to guide product choice. Therefore, we retrospectively evaluated the impact of CAR-T product type on the outcomes of 129 LBCL pts receiving liso-cel or axi-cel per standard of care. All LBCL pts treated at our center with liso-cel or axi-cel outside of a clinical trial between 1/2018 and 5/2023 were included. Best response was determined within 3 months of CAR-T infusion by PET-CT imaging per Lugano 2014 criteria. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune-effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) were graded using ASTCT criteria. Of 129 total pts, 37% (n=48) and 63% (n=81) received liso-cel and axi-cel, respectively. Seven pts received out-of-specification liso-cel on an expanded access protocol. Pts who received liso-cel were older (median 67 vs 62 years, p=.003). Other baseline characteristics, including male sex (liso-cel vs axi-cel: 63% vs 69%, p=.4), HCT-CI score (1.0 vs 1.0, p=.6), pre-lymphodepletion (LD) LDH (178 vs 214 U/L, p=.14) and ALC (0.65 vs 0.60 x 10³/µL, p=.3), largest lesion diameter (3.1 vs 3.0 cm, p=.4), and extranodal disease (56% vs 56%, p>.9) were similar. The vein-to-vein time (time from leukapheresis to CAR-T infusion) was longer for liso-cel: median, 35 vs 27 days (p