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A study published in the British Journal of Haematology examined the impact of COVID-19 on patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) who received bispecific antibodies. The study included 130 Danish patients who were treated with glofitamab or epcoritamab. Of the 43 patients who were infected with COVID-19, the majority were in complete remission at the time of diagnosis. The severity of COVID-19 symptoms varied, with 2 patients experiencing critical symptoms, 2 experiencing severe symptoms, and 30 experiencing non-severe symptoms. Hospitalization was required for 16 patients, and the most common treatments prescribed were sotrovimab and remdesivir. Overall, the study found low mortality rates from COVID-19 infection in patients with B-NHL after bispecific CD20xCD3 therapy. The study also compared the mortality rates of patients who received bispecific antibodies to those treated with CAR-T-cell therapy, finding that bispecific antibody patients had a lower mortality rate. The study concludes that bispecific CD20xCD3 antibodies can be safely prescribed to lymphoma patients who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 with currently circulating virus variants. [Extracted from the article]

Summary: Outcome data of patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) beyond the second line are scarce outside of clinical trials. Novel therapies in the R/R setting have been approved based on single‐arm trials, but results need to be contextualized by real‐world outcomes. Medical records from 3753 Danish adults diagnosed with DLBCL were reviewed. Patients previously treated with rituximab and anthracycline‐based chemotherapy who received the third or later line (3 L+) of treatment after 1 January 2015, were included. Only 189 patients with a median age of 71 years were eligible. The median time since the last line of therapy was 6 months. Patients were treated with either best supportive care (22%), platinum‐based salvage therapy (13%), low‐intensity chemotherapy (22%), in clinical trial (14%) or various combination treatments (32%). The 2‐year OS‐/PFS estimates were 25% and 12% for all patients and 49% and 17% for those treated with platinum‐based salvage therapy. Age ≥70, CNS involvement, elevated LDH and ECOG ≥2 predicted poor outcomes, and patients with 0–1 of these risk factors had a 2‐year OS estimate of 65%. Only a very small fraction of DLBCL patients received third‐line treatment and were eligible for inclusion. Outcomes were generally poor, but better in intensively treated, fit young patients with limited disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]