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. 2025 Sep;43(25):2766-2771.
doi: 10.1200/JCO-25-00760. Epub 2025 Jun 3.

Long-Term (≥5-Year) Remission and Survival After Treatment With Ciltacabtagene Autoleucel in CARTITUDE-1 Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Affiliations

Long-Term (≥5-Year) Remission and Survival After Treatment With Ciltacabtagene Autoleucel in CARTITUDE-1 Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Sundar Jagannath et al. J Clin Oncol. 2025 Sep.

Abstract

CARTITUDE-1 evaluated ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). We describe overall survival (OS), ≥5-year progression-free outcomes, associated biomarkers, and safety, with a median study follow-up of 61.3 months. For the 97 treated patients, median OS was 60.7 months (95% CI, 41.9 to not estimable). One third (32/97) of patients remain alive and progression-free for ≥5 years after a single cilta-cel infusion, without maintenance treatment. Twelve of these patients treated at a single center underwent serial minimal residual disease (MRD) and positron emission tomography-computed tomography assessments, and all (100%) were MRD-negative (at least 10-5 threshold) and imaging-negative at year 5 or later after cilta-cel. Baseline characteristics, including the presence of high-risk cytogenetics and extramedullary disease, were generally comparable for the 32 patients who were progression-free for ≥5 years versus patients who had progressive disease by year 5. A trend of lower baseline tumor burden, higher fraction of naïve T-cells in the cilta-cel drug product, higher T cell-to-neutrophil ratio, higher hemoglobin and platelets at baseline, and higher effector-to-target ratio were associated with ≥5-year progression-free status. The safety profile of cilta-cel remained consistent with previous reports. To our knowledge, our data provide the first evidence that cilta-cel is potentially curative in patients with RRMM.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03548207.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated unless otherwise noted. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/jco/authors/author-center.

Open Payments is a public database containing information reported by companies about payments made to US-licensed physicians (Open Payments).

Sundar Jagannath

Consulting or Advisory Role: Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Legend Biotech, Takeda, Sanofi, Regeneron, Caribou Biosciences, Poseida, Genmab, GlaxoSmithKline

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Biotech, Regeneron, Internation Myeloma Society, Poseida

Thomas G. Martin

Consulting or Advisory Role: GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Lilly, AstraZeneca

Research Funding: Sanofi (Inst), AMGEN (Inst), Janssen Oncology (Inst), BMSi

Yi Lin

Consulting or Advisory Role: Kite/Gilead (Inst), Bristol Myers Squibb (Inst), Vineti (Inst), Janssen Oncology (Inst), Pfizer (Inst), Sanofi (Inst), NexImmune (Inst), Caribou Biosciences (Inst), Regeneron (Inst), Genentech (Inst), Fosun Kite (Inst), Chimeric Therapeutics (Inst), Adicet Bio (Inst), Nektar (Inst), Tessera (Inst), Legend Biotech (Inst)

Research Funding: Janssen Oncology (Inst), Bristol Myers Squibb (Inst)

Adam D. Cohen

Consulting or Advisory Role: Janssen Oncology, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Roche/Genentech, Pfizer, Ichnos Sciences, AbbVie, ITeos Therapeutics, Arcellx, Regeneron, Sanofi, Moderna Therapeutics, Prothena, Kite, a Gilead company, Caribou Biosciences, AstraZeneca

Research Funding: Novartis (Inst), GlaxoSmithKline (Inst), Genentech/Roche (Inst), Janssen Oncology (Inst)

Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: Patents related to CAR T cells and biomarkers of Cytokine Release Syndrome

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Janssen Oncology, Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie, Janssen Oncology, Ichnos Sciences

Noopur Raje

Consulting or Advisory Role: Amgen, Celgene, Takeda, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Janssen Oncology, Immuneel Therapeutics, Caribou Biosciences, Pfizer

Research Funding: Bluebird Bio (Inst), Pfizer (Inst)

Myo Htut

Consulting or Advisory Role: Millennium

Research Funding: Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research (Inst), BMS (Inst)

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Millennium

Abhinav Deol

Consulting or Advisory Role: Novartis, Kite/Gilead, Agios, Juno/Celgene, Janssen, Adicet Bio

Mounzer Agha

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: GenCart

Jesus G. Berdeja

Consulting or Advisory Role: Bristol Myers Squibb (Inst), Kite, a Gilead company (Inst), Roche (Inst), AstraZeneca, Genentech/Roche, Johnson & Johnson/Janssen, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Kyowa Kirin International, Pfizer, Regeneron

Speakers' Bureau: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Research Funding: Takeda (Inst), Bristol Myers Squibb (Inst), Novartis (Inst), Genentech/Roche (Inst), Sanofi (Inst), Celularity (Inst), Ichnos Sciences (Inst), GlaxoSmithKline (Inst), C4 Therapeutics (Inst), CARsgen Therapeutics (Inst), Cartesian Therapeutics (Inst), Karyopharm Therapeutics (Inst), AstraZeneca (Inst), Caribou Biosciences (Inst), Gracell (Inst), Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (Inst), K36 Therapeutics (Inst), Kite, a Gilead company (Inst), Moderna Therapeutics (Inst), Pfizer (Inst), Regeneron (Inst)

Alexander M. Lesokhin

Honoraria: Janssen, Legend Biotech, Trillium Therapeutics, Sanofi, Pfizer, ITeos Therapeutics, SVB Leerink, SVB Leerink

Consulting or Advisory Role: Pfizer, Trillium Therapeutics, Arcellx

Research Funding: Bristol Myers Squibb (Inst), Janssen Oncology (Inst), Genentech (Inst), Trillium Therapeutics (Inst), Sanofi (Inst), Pfizer (Inst)

Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: Serametrix, Inc

Jessica J. Liegel

Research Funding: Janssen (Inst), Sanofi (Inst)

Adriana Rossi

Consulting or Advisory Role: BMSi, Caribou Biosciences, Janssen, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Sanofi

Research Funding: BMSi, Caribou Biosciences, Janssen

Saad Z. Usmani

Consulting or Advisory Role: Janssen Oncology, GlaxoSmithKline, AbbVie, Genentech, Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene, Regeneron, Oricell Therapeutics, AstraZeneca

Research Funding: Janssen Oncology, Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Gracell Therapeutics, Gilead Sciences, K36 Therapeutics

Binod Dhakal

Honoraria: Celgene, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline

Consulting or Advisory Role: Amgen, Takeda, Janssen Oncology, GlaxoSmithKline, Natera, Sanofi, Genentech/Roche, Pfizer, Arcellx

Speakers' Bureau: Janssen Oncology

Research Funding: Amgen (Inst), Janssen Oncology (Inst), GlaxoSmithKline (Inst), Arcellx (Inst), CARsgen Therapeutics (Inst), Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene (Inst), Sanofi (Inst)

Samir Parekh

Employment: Mount Sinai Health System

Consulting or Advisory Role: Regeneron, Genentech/Roche, GRAIL, Poseida Therapeutics

Research Funding: Celgene/BMS Corporation, Caribou Biosciences, GRAIL, imCORE, Poseida Therapeutics

Hui Li

Employment: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Feng Wang

Employment: Johnson & Johnson

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Johnson & Johnson

Rocio Montes de Oca

Employment: Johnson & Johnson

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Johnson & Johnson

Vicki Plaks

Employment: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen, AbbVie

Huabin Sun

Employment: Janssen

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Janssen

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Janssen

Arnob Banerjee

Employment: Janssen Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Jordan M. Schecter

Employment: Janssen Oncology

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Janssen Oncology

Nikoletta Lendvai

Employment: Janssen Research & Development

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Janssen Research & Development

Deepu Madduri

Employment: Janssen Oncology

Leadership: Bitterroot Bio (I)

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Roivant (I), Bitterroot Bio (I)

Tamar Lengil

Employment: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Jieqing Zhu

Employment: Legend Biotech

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Legend Biotech

Mythili Koneru

Employment: Legend Biotech

Leadership: Legend Biotech

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Legend Biotech

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Legend Biotech

Muhammad Akram

Employment: Legend Biotech, Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene (I)

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Legend Biotech, Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene (I)

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Legend Biotech

Nitin Patel

Employment: Legend Biotech, BMS (I), Moderna Therapeutics (I)

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Legend Biotech, BMS (I)

Octavio Costa Filho

Employment: Legend Biotech

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Legend Biotech

Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Legend Biotech

Andrzej J. Jakubowiak

Honoraria: AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Sanofi, Gracell

Consulting or Advisory Role: AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Sanofi, Gracell

Peter M. Voorhees

Consulting or Advisory Role: AbbVie/Genentech, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Sanofi, Janssen, GlaxoSmithKline, Regeneron, Ascentage Pharma, AstraZeneca, Kite, a Gilead company

Research Funding: AbbVie (Inst), Janssen (Inst), GlaxoSmithKline (Inst), TeneoBio (Inst), Regeneron (Inst)

No other potential conflicts of interest were reported.

Figures

FIG 1.
FIG 1.
Patient disposition. aAt median 61.3-month follow-up. cilta-cel, ciltacabtagene autoleucel; PD, progressive disease.
FIG 2.
FIG 2.
(A) OS. (B) Progression-free survival. Cilta-cel, ciltacabtagene autoleucel; OS, overall survival.

References

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