Early Epcoritamab Administration Revives CAR-T Cells in Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Lymphomas

Kensuke Yanashima; Yoshiki Furukawa; Midori Ishii; Shintaro Kinoshita; Yasuharu Hamano; Naoki Watanabe; Yutaka Tsukune; Hajime Yasuda; Jun Ando; Miki Ando

doi:10.1002/jha2.70079

Early Epcoritamab Administration Revives CAR-T Cells in Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Lymphomas

EJHaem. 2025 Jun 17;6(3):e70079. doi: 10.1002/jha2.70079. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hematology Juntendo University School of Medicine Tokyo Japan.
² Division of Cell Therapy & Blood Transfusion Medicine Juntendo University School of Medicine Tokyo Japan.

Abstract

Background: Bispecific antibodies are effective for relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma patients even after CAR-T therapy.

Methods: Peripheral blood CAR-T kinetics and functional analysis in vivo were carried out pre- and post-epcoritamab infusion in B-cell lymphoma patients relapsing after CAR-T therapy.

Results: CAR copy numbers spiked at relapse and rose again following epcoritamab administration. Expression levels of CAR-T exhaustion markers did not increase, whereas perforin and granzyme B expression increased after epcoritamab induction.

Conclusion: Early epcoritamab administration without cytotoxic agents at relapse after CAR-T therapy revives CAR-T cell numbers and cytotoxicity, which may potentially lead to favorable clinical outcomes.