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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03568461

Efficacy and Safety of Tisagenlecleucel in Adult Patients With Refractory or Relapsed Follicular Lymphoma

This is a multi-center, phase II study to determine the efficacy and safety of tisagenlecleucel in adult patients with relapsed or refractory FL.

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Key information

Age range

18 year–100 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

Novartis Investigative Site, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia

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About this study

This single-arm, open label study had the following sequential phases: Screening, Pretreatment, Treatment and Follow-up. In the Pre-treatment phase, the patient could undergo bridging therapy (optional) and lymphodepleting (LD) chemotherapy. Treatment and Follow-up Phase included tisagenlecleucel infusion, and safety and efficacy follow-up for at least 24 months. For all the patients who received tisagenlecleucel infusion, additional survival follow-up was to be performed to determine survival status every 3 months.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Refractory or relapsed Follicular Lymphoma (Grade 1, 2, 3A)
  • Radiographically measurable disease at screening

Exclusion criteria

  • Evidence of histologic transformation
  • Follicular Lymphoma Grade 3B
  • Prior anti-CD19 therapy
  • Prior gene therapy
  • Prior adoptive T cell therapy
  • Prior allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant
  • Active CNS involvement by malignancy

Other protocol-defined Inclusion/Exclusion criteria may apply.

Treatment and study plan

Tisagenlecleucel

Biological

Tisagenlecleucel is single infusion.

Other names: CTL019

Primary outcomes

  1. Complete Response Rate (CRR) Per Independent Review Committee (IRC) Assessment

    Time frame: 1 year

    Complete response rate was defined as the percentage of participants with a best overall response (BOR) of complete response (CR) recorded from tisagenlecleucel infusion until progressive disease or start of new anticancer therapy, whichever came first. CRR was determined by an independent review committee (IRC) and was based on Lugano 2014 classification response criteria. The radiological response is first obtained from CT and PET studies according to the Lugano 2014 criteria. CT response is based on anatomical measurements of index/non-index/new lesions and spleen length. The possible response outcomes are complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), or progressive disease (PD). PET response based on a 5-point scale (5PS) or Deauville score. The possible outcomes for PET response are complete metabolic response (CMR), partial metabolic response (PMR), no metabolic response (NMR), or progressive metabolic disease (PMD).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Overall Response Rate (ORR) Per IRC Assessment

    Time frame: 1 year

    Overall response rate is defined as the percentage of participants with a best overall disease response of complete response (CR) or partial response (PR). Response was evaluated per Lugano 2014 classification response criteria. The radiological response is first obtained from CT and PET studies according to the Lugano 2014 criteria. CT response is based on anatomical measurements of index/non-index/new lesions and spleen length. The possible response outcomes are complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), or progressive disease (PD). PET response based on a 5-point scale (5PS) or Deauville score. The possible outcomes for PET response are complete metabolic response (CMR), partial metabolic response (PMR), no metabolic response (NMR), or progressive metabolic disease (PMD).

  2. Duration of Response (DOR) Per IRC Assessment

    Time frame: approx. 60 months

    Duration of response (DOR) applied only to participants whose best overall disease response was CR or PR. It is defined as the time from the date of first documented disease response (CR or PR) to the date of first documented progression or death due to follicular lymphoma (FL). DOR was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

  3. Duration of Response (DOR) for Complete Response (CR) Only Per IRC Assessment

    Time frame: approx. 60 months

    Duration of response (DOR) applied only to participants whose best overall disease response was complete response (CR) only. It is defined as the time from the date of first documented disease response (CR only) to the date of first documented progression or death due to follicular lymphoma (FL). DOR was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

  4. Progression Free Survival (PFS) Per IRC Assessment

    Time frame: up to 61.7 months

    Progression free survival is the time from tisagenlecleucel infusion to first documented disease progression or death due to any cause. PFS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

  5. Overall Survival (OS)

    Time frame: up to 65.8 months

    Overall Survival is the time from tisagenlecleucel infusion to death due to any cause. OS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

  6. Tisagenlecleucel Transgene Concentration Levels as Measured by Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) Method, by Clinical Response Per IRC Assessment

    Time frame: Month 60 (peripheral blood), Month 6 (bone marrow)

    This is the summary of cellular kinetic concentrations for tisagenlecleucel (CTL019) transgene levels in peripheral blood and bone marrow following infusion.

  7. Cmax; Cellular Kinetic Parameter of Tisagenlecleucel Transgene Levels by qPCR, Based on Clinical Response IRC Assessment

    Time frame: up to 60 months after infusion

    Cmax is the maximum (peak) observed in peripheral blood after single dose administration. Actual sampling times were taken into consideration for the calculation of cellular kinetic parameters parameters.

  8. Tmax; Cellular Kinetic Parameter of Tisagenlecleucel Transgene Levels by qPCR, Based on Clinical Response by IRC Assessment

    Time frame: up to 60 months after infusion

    Tmax is the time to reach maximum (peak) peripheral blood after single dose administration (days). Actual sampling times were taken into consideration for the calculation of cellular kinetic parameters.

  9. AUC0-28d and AUC0-84d; Cellular Kinetic Parameter of Tisagenlecleucel Transgene Levels by qPCR, Based on Clinical Response by IRC Assessment

    Time frame: 0 to 28 days after infusion, 0 to 84 days after infusion

    AUC0-28 is the area under curve (AUC) from time zero to day 28 in peripheral blood. AUC0-84d is the AUC from time zero to day 84 in peripheral blood. Actual sampling times were taken into consideration for the calculation of cellular kinetic parameters.

  10. AUC0-28d and AUC0-84d; Cellular Kinetic Parameter for Tisagenlecleucel by Flow Cytometry, Based on Clinical Response by IRC Assessment

    Time frame: AUC0-28d: from time of infusion to 28 days post-dose; AUC0-84d: from time of infusion to 84 days post-infusion

    Exposure is summarized as area under the curve (AUC) from time 0 to 28 days (AUC0-28d) and from time to 84 days (AUC0-84d). The cellular kinetic parameters were estimated from the percentages of CD3+/CTL019+ cells obtained from flow cytometry. Flow cytometry measures the surface expression of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on T cells.

  11. Cmax; Cellular Kinetic Parameter for Tisagenlecleucel by Flow Cytometry, Based on Clinical Response by IRC Assessment

    Time frame: From pre-dose until 60 months after infusion

    Cmax is the maximum (peak) observed in peripheral blood after single dose administration. Actual sampling times were taken into consideration for the calculation of cellular kinetic parameters parameters.

  12. Summary of Exposure of CD3+ Tisagenlecleucel Cells in Peripheral Blood for Tmax

    Time frame: From pre-dose until 60 months after infusion

    In vivo cellular kinetics of CD3+/CTL019+ levels tisagenlecleucel cells detected by flow cytometry base on best overall response (BOR). The cellular kinetic parameters were estimated from the percentages of CD3+/CTL019+ cells obtained from flow cytometry. Flow cytometry measures the surface expression of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on T cells.

  13. Humoral Immunogenicity: Number of Participants With Anti-mCAR19 Antibodies, Per IRC Assessment

    Time frame: at any time post-baseline, up to 24 months post-infusion

    Antibody titers specific to the tisagenlecleucel molecule prior to and following infusion. Percentage of participants who tested positive for anti-mCAR19 antibodies at any time post-baseline. A participant was only defined as positive for tisagenlecleucel treatment-induced or -boosted anti-mCAR19 antibodies when the anti-mCAR19 antibody median fluorescence intensity (MFI) at any time post-infusion was at least 2.28-fold higher than pre-infusion levels for patients whose baseline status was positive (boosted) or if the baseline status was negative, but any post-baseline interpretation was positive (induced).

  14. Cellular Immunogenicity: Percentage of Interferon Gamma (IFNg+) Cells by Flow Cytometry Per IRC Assessment

    Time frame: pre-infusion (pre-Lymph depletion evaluation), 24 months post-infusion

    Activation of T-cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from participants in response to mCAR19-derived peptides was used to assess the cellular immunogenicity against tisagenlecleucel. T-cell activation was measured by the percentage of interferon gamma (IFNg+) cells by flow cytometry. Cellular responses to mCART peptides were measured pre-infusion (enrollment) and post-tisagenlecleucel infusion.

    Pool 1 and Pool 2 are a pool of 60 peptides (peptides 1-60) and 59 peptides (peptides 61-119) , respectively, corresponding to the CTL019 transgene product. Together, they comprised 119 peptides spanning the CTL019 transgene product and were used to stimulate PBMCs to detect antigen-specific T cell responses via intracellular cytokine staining.

  15. Summary Scores of Patient-reported Outcome (PRO) Measured by SF-36v2 Quality of Life Questionnaire by Visit

    Time frame: Baseline (BL) Month (M) 3, M3, M6, M9, M12, M18, M24

    Effect of tisagenlecleucel therapy on patient reported outcomes were reported using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) v2 form. The SF-36 v2 is a widely used and extensively studied instrument to measure health-related quality of life among healthy patients and patients with acute and chronic conditions. It consists of eight subscales that can be scored individually: Physical Functioning, Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, General Health, Vitality, Social Functioning, Role-Emotional, and Mental Health. Two overall summary scores, the Physical Component Summary (PCS) and the Mental Component Summary (MCS) were computed by summing the item responses on the questions for each domain in accordance with the respective scoring method provided by the developers. Each item is scored on a 0 to 100 range so that the lowest and highest possible scores are 0 and 100, respectively. A high score defines a more favorable health state.

  16. Summary Scores of PRO Measured by SF-36v2 Quality of Life Questionnaire Reported by Change From Baseline

    Time frame: Change from baseline (CFB) M3, CFB M6, CFB M9, CFB M12, CFB M18, CFB M24

    Effect of tisagenlecleucel therapy on patient reported outcomes were reported using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) v2 form. The SF-36 v2 is a widely used and extensively studied instrument to measure health-related quality of life among healthy patients and patients with acute and chronic conditions. It consists of eight subscales that can be scored individually: Physical Functioning, Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, General Health, Vitality, Social Functioning, Role-Emotional, and Mental Health. Two overall summary scores, the Physical Component Summary (PCS) and the Mental Component Summary (MCS) were computed by summing the item responses on the questions for each domain in accordance with the respective scoring method provided by the developers. Each item is scored on a 0 to 100 range so that the lowest and highest possible scores are 0 and 100, respectively. A high score defines a more favorable health state.

  17. Health Status Measured by EQ-5D-3L Questionnaire

    Time frame: Baseline (BL), Month 3, Month 6, Month 9, Month 12, Month 18, Month 24, Month 36

    Effect of tisagenlecleucel therapy on patient-reported outcomes was assessed using the EuroQol 5-Dimension, 3-Level instrument (EQ-5D-3L). The EQ-5D-3L is a widely used, self-administered questionnaire designed to evaluate health status in adults. It consists of two sections. The first includes one item for each of the five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression). Patients rate each dimension as "no problems" (level 1), "some problems" (level 2), or "extreme problems" (level 3). This record summarizes, for each of the five dimensions, the number of patients falling into each response level.

  18. Summary Scores of PRO Measured by EQ-VAS Quality of Life Questionnaire by Visit

    Time frame: Baseline (BL) Month (M) 3, M6, M9, M12, M18, M24, M36

    Effect of tisagenlecleucel therapy on patient reported outcomes were reported using the EQ-VAS (EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale). The EQ-VAS is a 20 cm vertical, 0-100 numerical scale used alongside the EQ-5D questionnaire to measure a patient's self-rated health. It anchors "best imaginable health" (100) at the top and "worst imaginable health" (0) at the bottom, providing a quick, subjective, quantitative, and global assessment of health status on the day of survey. The second section of the questionnaire measures self-rated (global) health status utilizing a vertically oriented visual analogue scale where 100 represents the "best possible health state" and 0 represents the "worst possible health state."

  19. Summary Scores of PRO Measured by EQ-VAS Quality of Life Questionnaire Reported by Change From Baseline

    Time frame: Baseline (BL), M3 change from baseline (CFB), M6 CFB, M9 CFB, M12 CFB, M18 CFB, M24 CFB, M36 CFB

    Effect of tisagenlecleucel therapy on patient reported outcomes were reported using the EQ-VAS (EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale). The EQ-VAS is a 20 cm vertical, 0-100 numerical scale used alongside the EQ-5D questionnaire to measure a patient's self-rated health. It anchors "best imaginable health" (100) at the top and "worst imaginable health" (0) at the bottom, providing a quick, subjective, quantitative, and global assessment of health status on the day of survey

  20. Summary Scores of PRO Measured by FACT-Lym Quality of Life Questionnaire

    Time frame: Baseline (BL) Month (M) 3, M6, M9, M12, M18, M24, M36

    The effect of tisagenlecleucel therapy on patient-reported outcomes was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lymphoma (FACT-Lym) questionnaire, which measures quality of life in participants with lymphoma. FACT-Lym is composed of the FACT-G (27 items across Physical, Social/Family, Emotional, and Functional Well-Being, plus Additional Concerns) and a 15-item lymphoma-specific subscale. All items use a five-point self-administered response scale (0-4), with higher scores indicating better quality of life. The possible score ranges are as follows: - Physical Well-Being (PWB): 0-28 - Social/Family Well-Being (SWB): 0-28 - Emotional Well-Being (EWB): 0-24 - Functional Well-Being (FWB): 0-28 - Lym Subscale (15 items): 0-60 - Lymphoma Trial Outcome Index (TOI: PWB + FWB + Lym): 0-116 - FACT-G Total (PWB + SWB + EWB + FWB): 0-108 - FACT-Lym Total (FACT-G + Lym): 0-168 In all cases, higher scores indicate better outcomes within the corresponding domain.

  21. Summary Scores of PRO Measured by FACT-Lym Quality of Life Questionnaire Reported by Change From Baseline

    Time frame: Baseline (BL), M3 change from baseline (CFB), M6 CFB, M9 CFB, M12 CFB, M18 CFB, M24 CFB, M36 CFB

    The effect of tisagenlecleucel therapy on patient-reported outcomes was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lymphoma (FACT-Lym) questionnaire, which measures quality of life in participants with lymphoma. FACT-Lym is composed of the FACT-G (27 items across Physical, Social/Family, Emotional, and Functional Well-Being, plus Additional Concerns) and a 15-item lymphoma-specific subscale. All items use a five-point self-administered response scale (0-4), with higher scores indicating better quality of life. The possible score ranges are as follows: - Physical Well-Being (PWB): 0-28 - Social/Family Well-Being (SWB): 0-28 - Emotional Well-Being (EWB): 0-24 - Functional Well-Being (FWB): 0-28 - Lym Subscale (15 items): 0-60 - Lymphoma Trial Outcome Index (TOI: PWB + FWB + Lym): 0-116 - FACT-G Total (PWB + SWB + EWB + FWB): 0-108 - FACT-Lym Total (FACT-G + Lym): 0-168 In all cases, higher scores indicate better outcomes within the corresponding domain.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Industry

Registry information

Official study title

A Phase II, Single Arm, Multicenter Open Label Trial to Determine the Efficacy and Safety of Tisagenlecleucel (CTL019) in Adult Patients With Refractory or Relapsed Follicular Lymphoma

Acronym: ELARA

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2025
First posted
Jun 26, 2018
Registry last updated
Jul 9, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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