… all of them went on to have a spinal tap, with a median number of 22 WBC’
I didn’t see that data… are you referring to the bone marrow biopsy that is often required for lymphoma trials?
The following link says the toxicities are manageable… and in any event, if the patient with lymphoma is already refractory and/or chemo resistant to the common therapies (chop, cvp, rituxan, bendamustine, fludarabine, etc), or your indolent disease has become aggressive, then you’re down to clinical trials anyway and have nothing to lose… especially if you’re older and/or not qualified for an autologous BMT.
The scariest side-effect is the encephalopathy, but if your submandibular nodes are already the size of golf balls, what the heck? Right?
Also, anybody who has been dealing with it long enough to become resistant/refractory has had enough CT’s that myelodysplastic risks are well understood and accepted as the normal risks… especially if they’ve already played the Fludarabine card.
http://www.onclive.com/web-exclusives/anticd19-car-tcell-the…