2025-05-12
Swedish patients with aggressive blood cancers are responding well to CAR T-cell therapy, with better survival rates, fewer side effects, and encouraging results even in older adults.
Swedish cancer patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy are showing better long-term survival rates and fewer side effects than seen in earlier international studies. These findings come from a new analysis of Swedish treatment outcomes.
The data was compiled by Mats Jerkeman, Senior Consultant at Skåne University Hospital and Professor at Lund University. His analysis highlights encouraging results for patients with leukemia and lymphoma who received CAR T-cell therapy in Sweden.
“It’s not just the treatment itself,” says Jerkeman. “We’ve also improved how we select patients and how we manage side effects over time.”
CAR T-cell therapy is a personalized form of immunotherapy designed to fight certain blood and lymphatic cancers. These are conditions where, until recently, curative options were very limited. For the first time, researchers have now compiled nationwide results for Swedish patients treated with this therapy.
The results were published in the journal Leukemia.
“We’re seeing stronger treatment effects and fewer severe side effects than in the earliest clinical trials,” says Jerkeman, who led the analysis.
The study followed 93 adult patients with aggressive B-cell lymphoma (ABCL) who received treatment between 2019 and 2024. Of these, 66% achieved complete remission—meaning no detectable cancer—within 30 days. One year after treatment, 53% remained in remission.
“This suggests many could potentially be cured, though long-term follow-up is still needed,” explains Jerkeman.
This patient group previously had very few treatment options, often relying on stem cell transplantation. Long-term survival was rare.
“Older treatments gave only a 5–10% chance of long-term survival. Now, over half of patients may have a chance. These results exceed our expectations,” says Jerkeman.
CAR T-cell therapy is known to carry risks, particularly cytokine release syndrome (CRS)—a sepsis-like condition—and ICANS, a neurotoxic side effect. But in this Swedish review, the incidence of serious complications was significantly lower than in earlier trials.
“Only 1% of patients developed severe CRS, and cases of ICANS were roughly half of what we saw in initial studies,” notes Jerkeman. “This points to better patient selection and increased clinical experience.”
One surprising finding was that older patients responded just as well—if not better—than younger ones. In fact, patients over 70 showed a trend toward improved survival.
“Age alone doesn’t appear to impact outcomes. Careful patient selection likely played a role, but these results show that older adults can also benefit significantly,” says Jerkeman.
Interestingly, the analysis also revealed a potential link between the severity of ICANS and long-term survival. This will be explored in future studies.
In Sweden, CAR T-cell therapy is now an established standard for treating difficult cases of ABCL and pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-B ALL). All cases are reviewed in national clinical conferences, and the treatment is available at all university hospitals.
CAR T-cell therapy involves collecting a patient’s T-cells and sending them to a lab. There, the cells are genetically modified to recognize and attack cancer cells. Once reintroduced into the patient’s body, the modified T-cells target specific proteins on cancer cells.
Six CAR T therapies are currently approved by the U.S. FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Of these, three are recommended for use in Sweden by the national Council for New Therapies (NT-rådet).
After about six weeks, a PET-CT scan is used to evaluate whether the treatment has worked.
For more information, contact:
Mats Jerkeman
Senior Consultant, Skåne University Hospital
Professor, Lund University
📧 mats.jerkeman@skane.se
📧 mats.jerkeman@med.lu.se
Read the original article: https://press.newsmachine.com/pressrelease/view/svenska-resultat-visar-lovande-langtidsoverlevnad-efter-car-t-behandling-vid-leukemi-och-lymfom-56565