Citation: Rentsch, V.; Seipel, K.; Banz,
Y.; Wiedemann, G.; Porret, N.; Bacher,
U.; Pabst, T. Glofitamab Treatment in
Relapsed or Refractory DLBCL after
CAR T-Cell Therapy. Cancers 2022, 14,
2516. https://doi.org/10.3390/
cancers14102516
Academic Editor: Vita Golubovskaya
Received: 26 April 2022
Accepted: 18 May 2022
Published: 20 May 2022
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cancers
Article
Glofitamab Treatment in Relapsed or Refractory DLBCL after
CAR T-Cell Therapy
Vera Rentsch
1
, Katja Seipel
2
, Yara Banz
3
, Gertrud Wiedemann
4
, Naomi Porret
4
, Ulrike Bacher
5
and Thomas Pabst
1,
*
1
Department of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland;
vera.rentsch@students.unibe.ch
2
Department of Biomedical Research, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland; katja.seipel@dbmr.unibe.ch
3
Institute of Pathology, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland; yara.banz@pathology.unibe.ch
4
Center of Laboratory Medicine (ZLM), Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland;
gertrud.wiedemann@insel.ch (G.W.); naomiazur.porret@insel.ch (N.P.)
5
Department of Hematology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland;
veraulrike.bacher@insel.ch
* Correspondence: thomas.pabst@insel.ch; Tel.: +41-31-632-8430; Fax: +41-31-632-3410
Simple Summary: CAR T-cell therapies represent a major advance in the treatment of relapsed B-cell
non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of these patients will experience
disease progression following CAR T treatment. For these patients, no standard therapeutic procedure
is established so far. The novel bispecific antibody glofitamab has shown promising activity in the
treatment of refractory or relapsed B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas. In this study, we provide
evidence for good tolerance and promising efficacy of glofitamab administration in patients relapsing
after CAR T-cell therapy.
Abstract: Chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR T) treatment has become a standard option for
patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL), which are refractory or relapse after two
prior lines of therapy. However, little evidence exists for treatment recommendations in patients
who relapse after CAR T-cell treatment and the outcome for such patients is poor. In this study,
we evaluated the safety and efficacy of a monotherapy with the bispecific CD20xCD3 antibody
glofitamab in patients who progressed after CAR T treatment. We report nine consecutive patients
with progressive DLBCL after preceding CAR T-cell therapy. The patients received a maximum of
12 cycles of glofitamab after a single obinutuzumab pre-treatment at an academic institution. CRS
was observed in two patients (grade 2 in both patients). We observed an overall response rate of 67%,
with four patients achieving a complete response and a partial remission in two patients. Interestingly,
we identified increased persistence of circulating CAR T-cells in peripheral blood in three of the five
patients with measurable CAR T-cells. Our data suggest that glofitamab treatment is well tolerated
and effective in patients with DLBCL relapsing after CAR T-cell therapy and can enhance residual
CAR T-cell activity.
Keywords: CAR T-cell therapy; glofitamab; diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL); relapse
1. Introduction
The most common type of aggressive non-Hodgkin Lymphomas is diffuse large
B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) [1]. Whereas most patients achieve a complete remission
following first-line therapy with chemotherapy and rituximab, approximately 40% will,
ultimately, relapse [2,3]. Such patients usually undergo salvage therapy, with a proportion
of 30–40% of them responding [4,5], and these patients are candidates for consolidation
with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Among them, up to 50% may relapse
after ASCT [6–8]. For DLBCL patients who relapse or are refractory after at least two lines
Cancers 2022, 14, 2516. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14102516 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers