Introducing CAR T-cell therapy into clinical practice for mantle cell lymphoma: real-world experience from Poland

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) accounts for approximately 6% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas and represents a subtype of B-cell lymphoma associated with poor prognosis. Nearly all patients relapse after first-line chemotherapy [1, 2]. The introduction of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors has significantly improved outcomes in relapsed/refractory (r/r) MCL, with overall response rates (ORRs) of 68–80% and median progression-free survival (PFS) around 13 months overall and 25 months when used in the second line [3]. BTK inhibitors are now the standard of care in the second-line setting. However, prognosis remains poor for patients who are refractory to or relapse after BTK inhibitors, with ORRs for next-line treatments in the range 25–42% and median overall survival (OS) of only 6–10 months [4–6]. In 2020, based on the results of the ZUMA-2 trial