BMT CTN 1902 in Myeloma: Key Findings With Garfall
In this episode of Targeted Talks, Alfred L. Garfall, discusses the phase 2 BMT CTN 1902 trial of idecabtagene vicleucel in patients with multiple myeloma.
In this episode of Targeted Talks, Alfred L. Garfall, MD, director of Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and section chief of Myeloma and Hematology-Oncology at Penn Medicine, discusses the phase 2 BMT CTN 1902 trial (NCT05032820) of idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; Abecma), a study focused on patients with multiple myeloma who had a suboptimal response to first-line therapy, including autologous hematopoietic cell transplant and lenalidomide (Revlimid) maintenance.
Presented at the 2025 Transplant and Cellular Therapy Meetings, the topline findings revealed that ide-cel, an anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, demonstrated remarkable efficacy in this challenging patient population. At the 6-month mark, 63% of evaluable patients (n = 38) achieved a complete response (CR), with many responses occurring “quite early,” according to Garfall.
Additionally, 87% of patients achieved minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity, a critical marker for long-term remission, with 95% of these patients reaching MRD-negative status at some point during the study period. These results are particularly encouraging, as only 1 patient experienced disease progression at a median follow-up of 10.7 months.
For safety, cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in 81.6% of patients, though the majority of cases were mild, with grade 1 CRS seen in 68.4% of patients and grade 2 CRS seen in 13.2%. The median time to CRS onset was just 1 day, with resolution typically occurring within 2.5 days.
No cases of immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) were reported. Additionally, infections were observed in 26.32% of patients, with most being bacterial or viral in nature and occurring within the first 100 days post-infusion.
“This is the first study that utilized CAR T cells in the BMT CTN…It was a gratifying experience to run a CAR T-cell trial in the BMT CTN to demonstrate that this network can expand to these new cellular therapies, especially if they are somehow paired or combined with bone marrow transplant or stem cell transplant, which is its conventional focus,” says Garfall.
While the final analysis, including 12-month follow-up data and ancillary studies, is still pending, the preliminary results suggest that ide-cel could offer a viable pathway for patients to continue their standard-of-care regimen.
