EHA 2026 | What are the key findings from the phase I ANTLER trial in R/R B-cell NHL?

During the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2026 Congress, June 11–14, 2026, Stockholm, SE, the Lymphoma Hub was pleased to speak with Stephen Schuster, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US. We asked, What are the key findings from the phase I ANTLER trial in relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)? 

Key points¹ 

• The phase I ANTLER trial (NCT04637763) was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vispacabtagene regedleucel (vispa-cel), an allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy with PD-1 gene knock-out, in patients with R/R B-cell NHL, and to determine the recommended phase II dose (N = 85). 
• The recommended phase II dose was found to be 80 million cells. 
• The safety profile was generally manageable; any-grade cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in 54% of patients, immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) in 14%, infections in 53%, and immune effector cell-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis-like syndrome (IEC-HS) in 2%. 
  • Grade ≥3 CRS, ICANS, infections, prolonged cytopenias, and IEC-HS occurred in 1%, 4%, 26%, 27%, and 2% of patients, respectively. 
  • No graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) was observed, and six Grade 5 adverse events occurred. 
• Within the optimized cohort – patients with second- or third-line large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) who received T cells from younger donors (aged <30 years) with ≥2 donor–recipient matched human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles (n = 35) – deep and durable responses were observed, consistent with reported outcomes for approved autologous CAR T-cell therapies. 
  • The overall response rate (ORR) and complete response (CR) rate were 83% and 66%, respectively; median progression-free survival (PFS) was 17.1 months, and median duration of response (DoR) was not reached. 
  • In patients with T cells from older donors (aged ≥30 years with <2 donor–recipient matched HLA alleles), outcomes were poorer, with a median PFS of 2.5 months. 
• In the second-line confirmatory LBCL cohort (donor–recipient matching ≥2 HLA alleles, donor aged <30 years, RP2D of vispa-cel) (n = 27), the ORR was 82% and the CR rate was 67%. 
  • Median PFS was 17.1 months and DoR was 16.2 months. 
• These findings suggest vispa-cel has potential as an accessible, off-the-shelf, second-line therapy for patients with LBCL, and that it may also have feasibility for outpatient administration. 
• A phase III randomized controlled pivotal trial of vispa-cel as a second-line treatment in patients with LBCL who are ineligible for both autologous CAR T-cell therapy and transplant is planned. 

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