EBMT and EHA released the fourth call for retrospective research proposals within the Scientific Excellence Work Package of the GoCART Coalition in June 2024.
The aim of the call is to promote the use of existing EBMT Registry data and other sources of Real-World Data and to strengthen collaborations across stakeholders in the field of CAR T-cell therapies.
The selection committee was composed by Prof Anna Sureda (President of the EBMT), Prof Christian Chabannon (Past Chair EBMT Cellular Therapies and Immunobiology Working Party), Prof Chiara Bonini (Board Member of EHA), Prof Martin Dreyling (Board Member of EHA), Natacha Bolaños (Chair EBMT Patient Advocacy Committee) and Prof John Snowden (Past EBMT Executive Committee member).
This fourth call has been very competitive, out of the 7 scientific projects that were presented, three have been selected by the selection committee:
Observatory Study in quest of the best third line therapeutic option after Diffuse Large B Cells Lymphoma (DLBCL) failure to second line CAR T cell therapy in the EBMT Registry
Lead PI: Hyacinthe Johnson-Ansah and Co-PI: Gandhi Damaj, Hematology Institute, University Hospital of CAEN- Normandy, France
Non-ICANS neurotoxicities (NINTs) following BCMA targeted CAR T cell therapy
Lead PI: Charlotte Graham, Rayne Institute, King’s College London & King’s College Hospital, London, UK
Co-PIs:
Zinaida Peric, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
Donal McLornan, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
On behalf of the EBMT Transplant Complications Working Party (TCWP) and the Chronic Malignancies Working Party (CMWP)
Assessing the efficacy and tolerance of anti-CD19 CAR T cells in immunosuppressed patients with a history of solid organ transplantation or HIV and suffering from haematological B-cell malignancies
Joint lead PI: Laure Ricard, Sorbonne Université, Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine INSERM UMRs938, Service d'Hématologie Clinique et de Thérapie Cellulaire, Hôpital Saint Antoine, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France
Joint lead PI: Margot Jak, Department of Hematology, UMC Utrecht Cancer Centre, Utrecht, NL
Co-PIs :
Florent Malard, Sorbonne Université, Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine INSERM UMRs938, Service d'Hématologie Clinique et de Thérapie Cellulaire, Hôpital Saint Antoine, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France
Jurgen Kuball, Department of Hematology, UMC Utrecht Cancer Centre, Utrecht, NL
Anna Sureda, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Duran I Reynals Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
Ali Barzabachi, Hematology and Oncology American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Annalisa Ruggeri, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
On behalf of the EBMT Lymphoma Working Party (LWP) and the Cellular Therapy and Immunobiology Working Party (CTIWP)
A big congratulations to the winners! Results of these analyses will help advance the field of cellular therapy.
Scientific research on gene and cellular therapies increased substantially over the last years. With Real-World Data becoming increasingly available, many scientific questions, from different perspectives, can be explored. GoCART wants to maximise the use of data collected in the central EBMT Registry as well as data available to other stakeholders, and to facilitate further collaboration between stakeholders.
The proposals were evaluated against four criteria:
- scientific impact
- novelty
- feasibility
- collaboration across stakeholders between research groups, centres and countries. Equity, diversity and inclusion was also taken into consideration.
EBMT will economically support the selected studies by providing dedicated personnel resources - the GoCART study team comprises of a study coordinator, data manager, clinical data specialist and statisticians, who will conduct the study on behalf of the PIs.
There will be more opportunities in the future for interested researchers in the field. Please stay tuned for the next call!