Radiation may lower potential for side effects of CAR T therapy in non-hodgkin's lymphoma

Treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients with radiation therapy as an additional treatment while they wait for their CAR T cells to be manufactured may reduce the risk of CAR T therapy side effects once it is administered, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The study found patients who received radiation 30 days or fewer before their CAR T infusion did not experience serious cytokine release syndrome (CRS) or neurotoxicity, the two most common side effects of the gene therapy. Michael LaRiviere, MD, a resident in Radiation Oncology in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, will present the findings today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago (Abstract #135).