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Vasu, Sumithira

Mayo Clinic

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute

Citations 1

Improved Outcomes with TKI Maintenance Following Brexucabtagene Autoleucel in Philadelphia-chromosome ALL
Othman, Tamer , Roloff, Gregory W. , Miller, Katharine, Zhang, Amy , Sutherland, Katherine C. , Faramand, Rawan , Hill, LaQuisa C. , Jeyakumar, Nikeshan , Ladha, Abdullah , Kopmar, Noam E., Tsai, Stephanie B., O'CONNOR, TIMOTHY E., Solh, Melhem , Guzowski, Caitlin, Tan, Virginia, Malik, Shahbaz A., Mathews, John, Shaughnessy, Paul , Mountjoy, Luke, Schwartz, Marc S., Connor, Matthew P. , Vasu, Sumithira, Kumaran, Muthu, Hoeg, Rasmus T., Tracy, Sean , Yaghmour, George , Pullarkat, Vinod , Muffly, Lori , Aldoss, Ibrahim, Jeyakumar, Nikeshan , Ladha, Abdullah , Sasine, Joshua , Lin, Chenyu , Hilal, Talal , Majhail, Navneet S , Dykes, Kaitlyn C , Logan, Aaron C , Connor, Matthew , Cassaday, Ryan D , Leonard, Jessica T , Shah, Bijal , Frey, Noelle V , Muffly, Lori , Hill, LaQuisa C , Faramand, Rawan , Sutherland, Katherine , Roloff, Gregory W , Othman, Tamer , Zhang, Amy , Muhsen, Ibrahim N. , Sasine, Joshua , Lin, Chenyu , Kopmar, Noam E. , Tsai, Stephanie, Hilal, Talal , Majhail, Navneet S. , Battiwalla, Minoo , Malik, Shahbaz A. , Mountjoy, Luke , Dykes, Kaitlyn C. , Wang, Jiasheng , Vasu, Sumithira , Hoeg, Rasmus T. , Yalniz, Fevzi , Cassaday, Ryan D. , Shah, Bijal , Frey, Noelle V. , Aldoss, Ibrahim

Blood Advances | June 25, 2026 | Volume: No volume available | Issue: No issue available | Pages: No page available

10.1182/bloodadvances.2026020707 Get It

Brexucabtagene-autoleucel (brexu-cel) produces high rates of measurable residual disease-negative (MRD-) complete response (CR) in adults with Philadelphia-chromosome positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); however, subsequent relapses remain frequent. It is unclear whether maintenance with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) can enhance remission durability. We evaluated outcomes among adults with relapsed/refractory Ph+ ALL who received commercial brexu-cel and achieved MRD- CR across 19 U.S. institutions. Considering TKI maintenance as a time-varying covariate, we analyzed outcomes based on receipt of subsequent TKI maintenance versus no maintenance. Patients receiving consolidative transplantation or non-TKI maintenance were excluded. Fifty-one patients were included: 20 received TKI maintenance and 31 received no maintenance. The use of TKI maintenance was associated with a significantly lower 1-year cumulative incidence of relapse (HR 0.12; 95% CI, 0.02-0.88; p=0.037) which translated into improved progression-free survival (PFS, HR 0.19; 95% CI, 0.04-0.85; p=0.029) and a trend towards improved overall survival (OS, HR 0.34; 95% CI, 0.07-1.62; p=0.18). There was no difference in non-relapse mortality (NRM, HR 0.83; 95% CI, 0.12-5.87; p=0.85). This real-world analysis supports the administration of TKI maintenance in Ph+ ALL following achievement of MRD- CR with brexu-cel as a strategy to improve PFS following chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy.