A phase 1, multicenter study evaluating the safety and efficacy of KITE-585, an autologous anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy, in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Despite advances in treatment, most patients with multiple myeloma (MM) will relapse, and long-term survival remains poor. B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is an ideal therapeutic target as it is expressed throughout the disease course with normal tissue expression limited to plasma and some B-cell lineages. This phase 1, multicenter, first-in-human study evaluated the safety and efficacy of KITE-585, an autologous anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, in patients with relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM). Key eligibility criteria included measurable MM and progression, defined by the International Myeloma Working Group Consensus Criteria within 60 days of the last treatment. Patients underwent leukapheresis and subsequently received a 3-day conditioning therapy regimen (cyclophosphamide [300 mg/m/day] and fludarabine [30 mg/m/day]). Patients then received a flat dose of 3 × 10 to 1 × 10 KITE-585 CAR T cells in a 3+3 dose-escalation design. The primary endpoint was incidence of adverse events (AEs) defined as dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs). Key secondary and exploratory endpoints included efficacy outcomes, incidence of AEs, levels of KITE-585 in blood, serum cytokines, and incidence of anti-BCMA CAR antibodies. Seventeen patients were enrolled, and 14 received KITE-585 with a median follow-up of 12.0 months. The median age of patients was 56 years, 41.2% had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 1, 92.9% had baseline BCMA expression on plasma cells, and median number of prior therapies was 5.5. No patients experienced a DLT, all patients experienced ≥ 1 grade ≥ 3 treatment-emergent AE (TEAE), and no grade 5 TEAEs were observed. There were no grade ≥ 3 events of cytokine release syndrome, neurologic events, or infections; all were grade 1 or 2, and each occurred in 21.4% of patients. Among all patients infused with KITE-585, 1 patient who received 3 × 10 anti-BCMA CAR T cells experienced a partial response. Median peak CAR T-cell expansion was low (0.98 cells/μL), as were median peak serum levels of CAR-associated cytokines, including interferon-γ (61.45 pg/mL) and interleukin-2 (0.9 pg/mL). KITE-585 demonstrated a manageable safety profile; however, the limited CAR T-cell expansion and associated lack of anti-tumor response in patients with RRMM treated with KITE-585 is consistent with the minimal CAR T-cell activity observed.