New ASCO Data on CAR T-Cell Therapy Outcomes by Site Type

In "New ASCO Data on CAR T-Cell Therapy Outcomes by Site Type," Dr. Porter reviews new ASCO data alongside his own center's experience with community-based CAR T-cell therapy access.

Dr. Porter grounds this episode in his own center's experience before turning to the national data. At Penn, outcomes across the academic and two community sites have been strikingly similar: toxicities, infection rates, and response rates line up closely, even though the academic site tends to see a somewhat sicker, older patient mix. That consistency, he says, made the newly presented ASCO findings unsurprising rather than novel.

The ASCO analysis drew on a large national claims database comparing FACT-accredited and non-FACT-accredited centers. The patient counts were, as expected, very different: over 6,700 patients at FACT-accredited centers versus just over 100 at non-accredited sites. What mattered more to Dr. Porter was that the patient populations themselves looked alike, with similar toxicities and similar infection rates between the two groups.

He is careful to flag real limitations. This is a retrospective health claims database, not a prospective study, and its accuracy depends heavily on how clinicians and sites enter their data. Still, he notes that certain elements, including codes for cytokine release syndrome and ICANS, tend to be reliable, and the database can reasonably estimate a patient's next line of treatment. Given those caveats, Dr. Porter calls it encouraging that non-FACT-accredited centers appear to be treating a comparable patient population with comparable toxicity and risk, without excess harm, and with presumably similar outcomes.

He stops short of claiming the database proves equivalence across every setting; a retrospective claims analysis cannot establish that outright. What it does show, he says, is that the non-FACT-accredited centers now offering CAR T-cell therapy, at least the roughly 109 patients reported at ASCO, are delivering care at the same level as academic centers.

In "Real-World Data: FACT vs Non-FACT CAR-T Outcomes Compared," new real-world data puts that safety question to the test.