Carvykti (Ciltacabtagene autoleucel) for Myeloma

Overview
Carvykti is a prescription drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in adults who have already tried at least four lines of therapy. Previously tried therapies must include a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory agent, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody. Carvykti is also known by its drug name, Ciltacabtagene autoleucel.

Carvykti is a type of immunotherapy called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Carvykti is made from a person’s own T cells that have been harvested and genetically engineered to target a protein called B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), which is common on B cells, including myeloma cells. Carvykti is believed to work by prompting T cells to kill myeloma cells.

How do I take it?
Since Carvykti is made from your own cells, the first step is having your T cells harvested at a clinic in a process similar to receiving a blood transfusion. Next, the cells are frozen and sent to the manufacturer’s laboratory, where they are genetically changed. The manufacturing process takes four to five weeks. Finally, Carvykti is shipped to your health care provider.

You’ll receive chemotherapy for a few days before receiving Carvykti. Carvykti is administered once as an intravenous infusion.

Side effects
The FDA-approved label for Carvykti lists side effects including cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which is both common and potentially severe. CRS, which may be life-threatening, can cause neurological side effects such as seizures, hallucinations, and tremors. Other common side effects of Carvykti include fever, low blood pressure, fatigue, infections, cough, chills, diarrhea, nausea, encephalopathy (problems with brain function), low appetite, headache, fast heart rate, trouble breathing, edema (swelling), problems with bleeding or blood clotting, constipation, vomiting, and pain in muscles, bones, or joints.

Rare but serious side effects listed for Carvykti include immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome, macrophage activation syndrome, and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which are potentially life-threatening, as well as an increased risk of developing other types of cancer.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Carvykti — Janssen Biotech Inc.
https://www.carvykti.com