From OHC

April 21, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joanie Manzo
Director, Marketing & Physician Services
513-751-2145 x10143
joan.manzo@usoncology.com

OHC’s cancer experts are among the select investigators who will be the first in the world to enroll patients in a study to evaluate a new therapy for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). This immunotherapy has the potential to offer several benefits to B-NHL patients whose cancer has relapsed or not responded to treatment.

Three years ago, OHC’s cancer experts represented the first adult cancer group in the region to introduce the revolutionary immunotherapy called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) for adults with aggressive blood cancers. CAR-T uses a patient’s own T-cells that are genetically engineered to prepare the CAR-T cell therapy which is then given back to the same patient. T-cells are an important part of the immune system that can kill cancer cells in the body.

Now, OHC will participate in a new clinical trial involving the redirection of T-cells against tumors. Caribou Bioscience’s ANTLER study will evaluate CB-010, a new type of allogeneic CAR-T therapy for multiple subtypes of B-NHL. Allogeneic means that the T-cells are derived from a healthy donor rather than taken from the patient. The healthy donor’s T-cells are genetically modified for administration to any cancer patient in a universal “off-the-shelf” manner that reduces the waiting time for the patient. The healthy donor T-cells are genetically engineered to contain a CAR (chimeric antigen receptor). The CAR is designed to bind to a certain protein on tumor cells, resulting in the targeting of the CAR-T cell to kill the malignant cells in the patient.

“We are very excited to have access to this ‘off-the-shelf’ product using healthy donor T-cells as another option to the patient’s own T-cells,” said OHC’s James H. Essell, MD, a medical oncologist, hematologist, blood and marrow transplant specialist, and principal investigator on the study. “Elimination of the wait time for access to CAR-T therapy for cancer patients is a tremendous benefit.” Currently, it can take three-to-four weeks to modify a patient’s own T-cells in preparation for treatment, while the ANTLER trial ensures availability of the CAR-T treatment material immediately after patient enrollment in the trial.

In addition to quick access to an inventory of healthy donor T-cells, this investigational product has the following potential benefits:

  • Extended T-cell persistence and durability of anti-tumor activity
  • More uniform T-cells
  • Prevention of T-cell exhaustion which is sometimes seen with T-cells from a patient who has received years of chemotherapy.

The Caribou study will consist of two parts evaluating up to 50 patients in a total of 12 centers in the United States. As OHC enrolls a patient, it will be leading the charge as the first in the world to conduct this innovative Phase I clinical trial.

Despite advances in immunotherapy, not enough patients benefit from the treatment. OHC believes that cancer research is essential to being able to avoid delay in treatment, improve access to revolutionary treatments, and, in turn, provide more hope for remission. “Our hope is to treat patients sooner and avoid unnecessary delay in treatment, thereby increasing their potential survival rate,” said Dr. Essell.

OHC (Oncology Hematology Care), the region’s leading experts in the treatment of nearly every form of adult cancer and complex blood disorders, has been fighting cancer on the front lines for more than 35 years. OHC offers the latest medical, gynecologic, and radiation therapy, and is always seeking better treatment options through its nationally recognized clinical trials program. OHC is the first and most experienced adult cancer practice in the region to offer the ground-breaking CAR T-cell therapy for adults. For more information about OHC, or for a second opinion, call 1-888-649-4800 or visit ohcare.com.