A phase 1b/2 study of CD30-specific chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy in combination with bendamustine in patients with CD30+ Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

TPS3095Background: CAR-T therapy has emerged as one of the most promising therapeutic approaches for lymphoma. CD30 antigen is expressed on virtually all Hodgkin (HL) and various subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). HL and NHL are both sensitive to the cellular immune response and antibody-directed therapy, which makes CD30 an excellent target for CAR-Ts. In the “first-in-human” clinical trial of CD30.CAR-Ts, the dose of 2 × 108 CD30.CAR-Ts/m2 was found to be safe; however, no conditioning therapy was given prior to CD30.CAR-T infusion and the expansion of CAR-Ts was thus limited. In the current study, we have further developed the CD30.CAR-T-based therapy by combining it with bendamustine. We hypothesized that bendamustine may improve therapeutic efficacy of CD30.CAR-Ts by causing sufficient depletion of endogenous immune cells to facilitate the expansion and persistence of CAR-Ts in vivo. Methods: In this phase 1b/2 clinical study, patients with CD30+ HL or NHL receive bendamustine followed by CD30.C...