Chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells against CD19 (CART19s) have potent anti-
leukemia activities in patients with refractory/relapsed
acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R ALL). This study was designed to investigate the correlation between safety/efficacy and therapeutic modalities including
chemotherapy and CART19
therapy. Total 23 and 69 patients were enrolled in the CART19 group and in the
chemotherapy group, respectively. The safety and efficacy profiles of 66 and 22 patients in the 2 groups were evaluated. The complete remission (CR) rate was higher in the CART19 group than that in the
chemotherapy group (90.9 vs 37.9%, P = 0.000). For patients relapsed after allo-HSCT and
chemotherapy, CR rates were 100% (8/8) vs 48.0% (12/25) (P = 0.009) and 85.7% (12/14) vs 31.7% (13/41) (P = 0.000), respectively. Moreover, a higher percentage in the CART19 group had results below the threshold for
minimal residual disease (100 vs 7.58%, P = 0.000). In survival analysis, the overall survival rate at 12 months was higher in the CART19 group than that in the
chemotherapy group (60.9 vs 10.1%, P = 0.000). For post-transplant patients achieving CR, 25.0% (2/8) and 75.0% (9/12) complicated with GVHD (P = 0.04) in the CART19 group and
chemotherapy group, respectively. For all CR patients, the median duration of absolute neutrophil count less than 500/μL and platelet count less than 20,000/μL were longer in the CART19 group than in the
chemotherapy group (p = 0.0047 and 0.0003, respectively). Our data demonstrated that patients with CART19s
therapy acquired higher rates of remission and longer survival, confirming the encouraging application of CART19
therapy in R/R ALL.