Efficacy and Safety of Lisocabtagene Maraleucel in Relapsed or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma: A Product-Specific Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials and Real-World Studies

Background/Objectives: Lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) is a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy approved for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL). However, most published meta-analyses of CAR-T therapy in LBCL pool data across products, limiting product-specific interpretation. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials and retrospective real-world studies evaluating liso-cel monotherapy in R/R LBCL. The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included complete response (CR), incidence of grade ≥ 3 adverse events, including cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS), overall mortality rate (OMR), disease progression-related mortality, and adverse event-related mortality. Pooled proportions were estimated using random-effects models. Results: Eleven studies including 1206 patients were analyzed, comprising five clinical trials and six real-world retrospective cohorts. The pooled ORR was 78%, and the pooled CR rate was 60%. The pooled OMR was 38%, with a disease progression-related mortality of 28% and an adverse event-related mortality of 4%. Severe (grade ≥ 3) CRS and ICANS occurred in 2% and 8%, respectively. Severe (grade ≥ 3) hematologic toxicities were frequent, particularly neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and anemia. Conclusions: Liso-cel monotherapy demonstrated high pooled response rates and low pooled incidences of severe CRS and ICANS across clinical trials and real-world settings in R/R LBCL. Severe ICANS, although uncommon, remains clinically meaningful, and severe hematologic toxicities were frequent and warrant careful monitoring and supportive care. These findings provide product-specific benchmarks for liso-cel in R/R LBCL.