June 2026

ONCOLOGY

IMMUNOTHERAPY SHOWS LONG-TERM PROMISE IN AGGRESSIVE LYMPHOMA

Featuring: ​​Leo I. Gordon, MD

​​Liso-cel may extend survival for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma, according to newly published five-year results from a major clinical trial in the journal Blood.

Findings Front and Center
Among 257 patients who received the treatment and were evaluated:
  • Median overall survival was 27.5 months.
  • An estimated 38% of patients were alive at five years.
    • Most deaths occurred within two years of treatment.
  • Disease-specific survival was a median of 67.8 months, with a five-year rate of 52%.
In patients who responded well enough to enter a long-term follow-up study:
  • The five-year overall survival rate was 78%.
  • Disease-specific survival climbed to 92%.
Additionally, the study found no new safety concerns with longer follow-up. Rates of severe late infections and second cancers remained low, easing concerns about delayed toxicity, a key question for therapies that permanently alter the immune system.

​Diving Into the Details
In the study, liso-cel targeted CD19, a protein on the surface of B-cell lymphomas. “The scientific rationale for CAR T therapy was based on the clinical observation that inpatients who had an allogeneic stem cell transplant […] maintained better control of their underlying malignancy, either lymphoma or leukemia,” says study co-author Leo I. Gordon, MD, “And we think that the reason for that is that the T-cells from the donor are attacking the lymphoma.”

​But donor transplants carry serious risks, including graft-versus-host disease. “The major focus in this area of research was to develop a T-cell that could circumvent the toxicity but still kill the malignancy,” Dr. Gordon explains.

The result? A “very activated killer cell that targets the lymphoma cell,” he adds. One engineered from the patient’s own cells and enhanced to be both precise and potent.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common and one of the most aggressive types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation. While many patients are cured with first-line chemotherapy, about 30% relapse.  For those who don’t respond to additional treatments, outcomes have historically been grim.

“What we’re seeing is that beyond two years, the chances of a relapse are very low,” Dr. Gordon says. “In that group of patients, it’s considered to be a curative therapy when there were previously no other options.”

​Looking Forward
​Dr. Gordon and his collaborators are exploring whether CAR T therapy could replace or precede chemotherapy in certain high-risk patients, potentially improving cure rates even further.

Scientists are also working to refine the technology itself. Next-generation approaches include targeting multiple cancer markers simultaneously, enhancing T-cell durability and even developing in vivo CAR T therapies where the genetic modification occurs directly inside the patient’s body rather than in a lab.

​Beyond lymphoma, the technology is expanding into other cancers and even autoimmune diseases such as lupus, with early results showing promise.

The study was supported by Juno Therapeutics, a Subsidiary of Celgene.

​This article was originally published in the Feinberg School of Medicine News Center on July 14, 2026.
Leo I. Gordon, MD, the Abby and John Friend Professor of Oncology Research and professor of Hematology and Oncology, was a co-author of the study.

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