EMA: “monitored LIFE-LONG”
… a new cancer, different from the previous one
… may occur after treatment with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell medicines
… evaluated data on 38 cases of secondary malignancy
… reported among approximately 42,500 patients who have been treated
… Tissue samples were tested in half of the cases
… revealing the presence of the CAR construct in 7 cases
… This suggests that the CAR T-cell medicine was involved in disease development
… secondary malignancies … reported within weeks and up to several years following administration
… Patients treated with these medicines should be monitored life-long for new malignancies
… Six CAR T-cell products are approved in the European Union
… Abecma, Breyanzi, Carvykti, Kymriah, Tecartus and Yescarta
… are used to treat blood cancers
… in patients whose cancer has come back (relapsed) or has stopped responding to previous treatment (refractory)
… The product information and the risk management plans will be updated to include the new information concerning secondary malignancy of T-cell origin