Emerging Role of Autologous CD19 CAR T-Cell Therapies in the Second-Line Setting for Large B-cell Lymphoma: A Game Changer?

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy has been proven effective in the third-line (and beyond) setting in patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). Until recently, high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT) was considered the standard of care in the second-line setting in patients demonstrating an objective response before the procedure. The ZUMA-7 and TRANSFORM studies showed the benefit of axicabtagene ciloleucel and lisocabtagene maraleucel, respectively, in patients refractory to or relapsing within 12 months of first-line anthracycline-based chemoimmunotherapy. However, a third trial (BELINDA study) using tisagenlecleucel failed to show a benefit in the same setting compared to standard salvage chemoimmunotherapy followed by auto-HCT. Several differences exist between these trials, including trial designs, patient population, crossover permissibility, bridging therapy, and end-point definitions. In this review, we summarize the current evidence for the treatment of patients with LBCL in the third line and beyond and standard treatment in the second line before CAR T therapy approval and interpret outcomes of the three trials examining the role of CAR T therapy in the second line and their impact in reshaping future practice.