Real-World Treatment Patterns after CD19-Directed CAR T Cell Therapy among Patients with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T) are approved for treatment of adults with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) following at least two lines of therapy. This study describes real-world treatment patterns after CAR T in adults with DLBCL. It includes adults diagnosed with DLBCL in IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental healthcare claims databases administered CAR T between 2017 and 2019 (index event) and at least 6 months of continuous health plan enrollment pre-index. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to estimate risk and time to first subsequent treatment after CAR T, as a proxy for CAR T failure. Among 129 patients meeting study criteria, most (123; 95.4%) were hospitalized during CAR T therapy. Median length of stay was 17 (25th–75th percentile, 13–22) days. Estimated 6-month risk of subsequent treatment was 36.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 27.1–45.8%). During median follow-up of 195 (25th–75th percentile, 102–362) days, median time to the first line of therapy after CAR T, accounting for censoring, was 378 days (95% CI 226, not reached). Among 48 patients who received another therapy after CAR T, 58.3% received immunotherapy, 50.0% radiation therapy, 25.0% chemotherapy, 25.0% targeted therapy, and 12.5% hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Among real-world patients with DLBCL treated with CAR T, the risk of not achieving a durable response is considerable; additional, effective options for DLBCL salvage treatment are needed.