Real‐world outcomes of ide‐cel and cilta‐cel in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: A nationwide, retrospective analysis in Austria
9 affiliations
- 1Department of Internal Medicine I: Hematology With Stem Cell Transplantation, Hemostaseology and Medical Oncology Ordensklinikum Linz Elisabethinen Linz Austria
- 2Medical Faculty Johannes Kepler University Linz Linz Austria
- 3Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Department of Medicine I Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria
- 4Department of Internal Medicine III With Haematology, Medical Oncology, Haemostaseology, Infectiology and Rheumatology Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg Salzburg Austria
- 5Clinical Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine Medical University of Graz Graz Austria
- 6Department of Internal Medicine V, Hematology & Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center Innsbruck (CCCI) Medical University of Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria
- 7Department for Internal Medicine 1 University Hospital St Poelten – NOE LGA, Karl Landsteiner University St. Poelten Austria
- 8Department of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria
- 9Division Hematology and Hemostaseology, Department of Medicine I Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria
Abstract
B‐cell maturation antigen‐directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have revolutionized the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. However, no randomized head‐to‐head comparison of idecabtagene vicleucel (ide‐cel) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta‐cel) is available, and real‐world data suggest differences in efficacy and toxicity. We performed a nationwide retrospective real‐world analysis (RWA) of Austrian patients treated with ide‐cel or cilta‐cel between January 2024 and July 2025. Ninety patients were included, with largely balanced baseline characteristics and frequent high‐risk features. Bridging therapy was administered to 94.4% of patients, resulting in high response rates prior to lymphodepletion. After a median follow‐up of 17.6 months, no early separation of the progression‐free survival (PFS) curves was observed between CAR‐T products. Multivariable analyses showed a trend towards improved PFS with cilta‐cel, whereas true extra‐medullary disease (EMD) and prior bispecific antibody treatment before T‐cell apheresis were associated with inferior PFS. Although previous RWA have demonstrated an early divergence in PFS between cilta‐cel and ide‐cel, this pattern was not observed in our cohort. The high effectiveness of bridging therapy may have contributed to these findings. Our results support further investigation of optimal bridging strategies and treatment sequencing while highlighting the persistent unmet need of patients with true EMD.
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BibTeX
@article{strassl2026realworld,
title = {{Real‐world outcomes of ide‐cel and cilta‐cel in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: A nationwide, retrospective analysis in Austria}},
author = {Irene Strassl and Alexander Nikoloudis and Lina Zoe Ruesing and Thomas Melchardt and Michael Leisch and Eduard Schulz and Annkristin Heine and Peter Neumeister and Normann Steiner and Dominik Wolf and Wolfgang Willenbacher and Petra Pichler‐Izmir and Theresa Lentner and Johannes Clausen and Veronika Buxhofer‐Ausch and Sigrid Machherndl‐Spandl and Olga Saini and Dagmar Wipplinger and Holger Rumpold and Nina Worel and Werner Rabitsch and Axel Schulenburg and Hermine Agis and Maria‐Theresa Krauth},
journal = {British Journal of Haematology},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1111/bjh.70773},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.70773},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Real‐world outcomes of ide‐cel and cilta‐cel in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: A nationwide, retrospective analysis in Austria
AU - Irene Strassl
AU - Alexander Nikoloudis
AU - Lina Zoe Ruesing
AU - Thomas Melchardt
AU - Michael Leisch
AU - Eduard Schulz
AU - Annkristin Heine
AU - Peter Neumeister
AU - Normann Steiner
AU - Dominik Wolf
AU - Wolfgang Willenbacher
AU - Petra Pichler‐Izmir
AU - Theresa Lentner
AU - Johannes Clausen
AU - Veronika Buxhofer‐Ausch
AU - Sigrid Machherndl‐Spandl
AU - Olga Saini
AU - Dagmar Wipplinger
AU - Holger Rumpold
AU - Nina Worel
AU - Werner Rabitsch
AU - Axel Schulenburg
AU - Hermine Agis
AU - Maria‐Theresa Krauth
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/26
JO - British Journal of Haematology
DO - 10.1111/bjh.70773
UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.70773
AB - B‐cell maturation antigen‐directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have revolutionized the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. However, no randomized head‐to‐head comparison of idecabtagene vicleucel (ide‐cel) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta‐cel) is available, and real‐world data suggest differences in efficacy and toxicity. We performed a nationwide retrospective real‐world analysis (RWA) of Austrian patients treated with ide‐cel or cilta‐cel between January 2024 and July 2025. Ninety patients were included, with largely balanced baseline characteristics and frequent high‐risk features. Bridging therapy was administered to 94.4% of patients, resulting in high response rates prior to lymphodepletion. After a median follow‐up of 17.6 months, no early separation of the progression‐free survival (PFS) curves was observed between CAR‐T products. Multivariable analyses showed a trend towards improved PFS with cilta‐cel, whereas true extra‐medullary disease (EMD) and prior bispecific antibody treatment before T‐cell apheresis were associated with inferior PFS. Although previous RWA have demonstrated an early divergence in PFS between cilta‐cel and ide‐cel, this pattern was not observed in our cohort. The high effectiveness of bridging therapy may have contributed to these findings. Our results support further investigation of optimal bridging strategies and treatment sequencing while highlighting the persistent unmet need of patients with true EMD.
SN - 0007-1048
SN - 1365-2141
ER -