IMS 2026 | CARTITUDE-2 Cohort A: ≥5-year remission and survival with cilta-cel in RRMM

During the 23rd International Myeloma Society (IMS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, September 23–26, 2026, Glasgow, UK, the Multiple Myeloma Hub spoke with María-Victoria Mateos, University Hospital of Salamanca, ES. We asked about long-term outcomes with ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) from Cohort A of the CARTITUDE-2 trial (NCT04133636). 

In this interview, Mateos discusses ≥5-year findings from Cohort A of the phase II CARTITUDE-2, which evaluated a single cilta-cel infusion in patients with RRMM after 1–3 prior lines of therapy who were exposed to a proteasome inhibitor and are lenalidomide-refractory. Mateos reviews long-term remission and survival outcomes, characteristics associated with prolonged disease control, immune correlates of durable response, and long-term safety findings. Mateos also discusses these findings in the context of cilta-cel use in earlier lines of therapy. 

Key points¹ 

• CARTITUDE-2 Cohort A included 20 patients with RRMM who had received 1–3 prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor, and were lenalidomide-refractory. Patients received a single cilta-cel infusion without maintenance therapy. 
• At a median follow-up of 60.7 months, 50% of patients remained alive and progression-free for ≥5 years without further antimyeloma treatment. 
• Median PFS was 60.5 months, while median OS was not reached. The 5-year PFS and OS rates were 54.2% and 69.2%, respectively. 
• ≥CR was observed in 95% of patients as best response. Three patients among those alive and progression free underwent bone marrow assessment at ≥5 years, all of whom were MRD-negative at 10⁻⁶. 
• In exploratory analyses, patients with long-term disease control had lower baseline tumor burden at baseline, including lower soluble BCMA levels and a greater proportion with ≤30% bone marrow plasma cells, than those who experienced progression or death due to progressive disease within 5 years. 
• Patients alive and progression-free at ≥5 years had higher CD4+ naïve T-cell levels at apheresis and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)+ CD4+ central memory T-cell levels at peak expansion compared with patients who experienced progression or death due to progressive disease within 5 years. 
• No new CAR T-cell-related neurotoxicity was reported with long-term follow-up. Since the previous report, two deaths occurred, including one due to an adverse event (AE); five patients developed second primary malignancies, which were reported as unrelated to cilta-cel. 
• Long-term findings from CARTITUDE-2 Cohort A suggest that earlier use of cilta-cel in patients with 1‒3 prior LOT may be associated with a higher likelihood of durable 5-year remission compared with later-line use. 

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