Real-World Data Shows Promise for Patients on CAR-T Therapy

Findings from a real-world study of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) found that CAR-T therapy reduced overall healthcare costs for older patients and patients with multiple comorbidities, according to research presented at the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual meeting.

CAR-T therapy for patients with DLBCL has shown promise, but until recently, not much was known about its effect on patients in the real world outside of a structured clinical research setting. Finding the answer to this question is what Dr. Karl Kilgore, senior research scientist at Avalere Health, set out to do looking at patients with pre-existing comorbidities that would have excluded them from clinical trials using CAR-T therapy.

In an interview with CURE Kilgore, senior research scientist at Avalere Health, discussed the real-world data presented at ASH and what it means for patients with DLBCL and the future of CAR-T therapy.

TRANSCRIPTION

We found by comparing healthcare utilization and costs in the six months prior to getting CAR-T, with the six months after CAR-T, we found significantly lower utilization of hospitals, fewer hospitalizations, significantly fewer days spent in the hospital at a population level, on a ppm basis, if you will. The incidence of emergency department visits was cut down by a third and the overall number of visits, on a per patient per month basis, cut almost in half.

Overall health care costs, six months before versus six months after, exclusive of the cost of the CAR-T episode itself, overall costs decreased by I believe 37%. So, what we found was that older patients, average age of 70, and patients with multiple comorbidities can be successfully treated with this new innovative treatment. It reduces hospitalizations, reduces emergency department visits, and reduces overall healthcare costs.