Jenna’s Journey
It was a month before Christmas 2021, and everyone was hoping for a miracle. Jenna had been diagnosed with lymphoma in 2020 and, after relapsing post-chemotherapy, she hoped a personalized treatment option called CAR T cell therapy would be the answer.
“I didn’t know if this would be my last Christmas with my daughter,” Jenna recalls. “But, if the treatment worked, it would be the best Christmas ever.”
Having tried other therapies to defeat her cancer to no avail, Jenna’s doctor recommended she try Breyanzi ® (lisocabtagene maraleucel), a one-time infusion* used to treat adults with relapsed or refractory large B cell lymphoma (LBCL), a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This treatment was different from other cancer medicines Jenna had tried—it would use a process that would genetically modify her white blood cells to recognize and fight her lymphoma.
Please see the full indications and the Important Safety Information provided below, including Boxed WARNINGS for Breyanzi regarding Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS), Neurologic Toxicities (NT), and Secondary Hematologic Malignancies.
Jenna wasn’t sure what to expect but tried to stay positive. After failed treatments, doctor visits, and the up-and-down cycle of disappointing news, Breyanzi offered her a chance at remission.
“I was hoping for anything positive, even a partial response,” Jenna says. “We knew, if it didn’t work, I would be in trouble.”
Before her diagnosis, Jenna was an avid runner and world traveler who loved spending time with her daughter. Her journey with lymphoma began only as an odd feeling that something was off. After blood work, a CT scan, and a biopsy, Jenna discovered she had a softball-sized mass in her chest, and was later diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“Getting that report back was mind-blowing,” she remembers. “I had no idea it was there. I couldn’t feel it; I didn’t have any symptoms.”
Because Jenna was otherwise healthy, she felt confident she could beat it. When her chemotherapy finished, Jenna expected good news. Instead, she found out that her cancer had grown after her 6-month scan—a moment she calls “crushing.” The doctors began a new treatment cycle, but nothing seemed to work. Jenna wanted to stay positive, but with every failed treatment, she grew more discouraged.
“It’s this true loneliness you feel,” Jenna says. She spent countless nights in online support groups and forums looking for support from the community.
After her doctor revealed she was not able to receive a stem cell transplant, her doctor brought up a CAR T cell therapy option called Breyanzi, a treatment that is made from your own T cells (a type of white blood cell) that have been reprogrammed to find and destroy specific target cells, which may include cancer cells and normal cells. She talked with her care team about the benefits and side effects, including more severe ones like cytokine release syndrome (CRS), increased risk of life-threatening infections, lowering of one or more types of your blood cells, neurologic toxicity, secondary malignancies, and common side effects like fatigue, fever, muscle pain, severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and headache.
The care site explained the process in detail and discussed that the Breyanzi treatment involves different steps, occurring over the span of a few months: blood collection, CAR T cell creation, a one-time infusion, and short- and long-term monitoring for side effects. In October 2021, Jenna and her doctor made the decision for her to receive Breyanzi in an outpatient setting. She and her partner temporarily moved closer to the hospital, making it easier to access her care team. This helped a few weeks after treatment, when she started to show symptoms of CRS and her care team was quickly able to manage her fever and high heart rate.
A month after receiving her infusion, it was time to see how Jenna’s body responded to Breyanzi. The results of her CT scan came back quickly, but Jenna was worried to hear the news right before Christmas. The possibility that the treatment had been successful proved too enticing, so she agreed to hear her results. Her doctor came with good news: Breyanzi had worked, and she was now confirmed to be in remission.
“It was unbelievable,” Jenna remembers. “Just 30 days prior [to my infusion], my whole chest was riddled with cancer. I was in shock.”
Today, three years later, Jenna is in remission and happy to be watching her daughter grow up while slowly making plans for the future.
“This sounds so cliché—having a new perspective on life and all that, but it’s very true,” Jenna says. “It’s these really mundane, small moments we take for granted every day.”
Jenna doesn’t dwell much on the past and continues to be monitored by her doctors for other cancers, but every so often she checks back in with her online community to see whether she can offer support.
“Whenever there’s someone who posts something similar to my story or my diagnosis, I’ll always reach out to them,” she says. “People are there looking for hope, and I have some.”
Dean’s Journey
In 2018, Dean went to the doctor for what he believed was a very painful kidney stone. He wasn’t sure what was wrong. His back hurt, and he’d been feeling a lingering sense of unease in his body that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Overall, Dean was healthy, he exercised, and he’d barely even taken a sick day in his long career. His doctor treated the symptoms and sent him home, where the pain slightly subsided.
When the back pain returned a week later—excruciating this time—Dean went to the hospital, accompanied by his wife, Mary. After a CT scan, they received a shocking diagnosis: Dean had non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“Within two days, I was receiving chemotherapy,” Dean remembers. For six months, they treated his lymphoma, and, after it was finished, it seemed like the hard part was over. “I was starting to feel better,” he says. “I was becoming more active; life was returning to normal.”
But everything wasn’t normal, despite a PET scan that appeared to clear him. “For anyone who’s had cancer, the world is never the same,” Dean shares. “I started to feel really good, but still had that question in the back of my mind: What’s next here?”
Dean’s apprehension wasn’t unwarranted. In 2021, his urologist found cancer in his prostate. As he began treatment for his prostate cancer, they discovered his lymphoma had also returned. This time, the chemotherapy was more aggressive, causing Dean to stay in the hospital for days at a time. “I could pull fistfuls of hair out of my head,” he remembers.
After the next round of chemotherapy and more tests, the results weren’t what they were hoping for. Dean and his wife felt discouraged that the treatment wasn’t working.
“Don’t lose hope,” the doctor said, and told Dean about another option: Breyanzi CAR T cell therapy.
After conversations with his care team about the process and potential benefits and side effects, Dean was ready to start his Breyanzi journey. In July 2021, after going through blood collection and the CAR T cell creation, Dean’s personalized treatment was ready.
Dean and Mary stayed near the hospital after his infusion, so his specially trained care team could monitor for side effects, including the viral infections he experienced. Thirty days later, Dean and his wife sat in his doctor’s office like they had several times before.
But, this time, Dean’s doctors had good news to share—his scans were clear. “It was amazing,” says Dean, visibly emotional. “I relive that moment every time I talk about it.”
Three years and a separate treatment for his prostate cancer later, Dean is in remission. Looking back, he is grateful for Breyanzi, but also his support system: his wife, doctors, family, and friends.
Dean with his three daughters
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” he says. “You kind of are able to transcend your hopelessness when [your family is] holding hope for you.”
Today, Dean continues to be monitored by his doctors for other cancers while he and his wife enjoy retired life. While not as active as he once was, Dean enjoys spending time with his three daughters and seven grandchildren, and traveling with Mary. And, after all he has been through, he never misses the chance to tell others about his experience.
“The more I think about it, the more I realize how blessed I am to be here today.”
Learn more about Breyanzi or talk to your doctor about what treatment options may be right for you.
*The treatment process includes blood collection, CAR T cell creation, administration, and side-effect monitoring.
INDICATIONS AND IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
INDICATIONS
What is BREYANZI?
BREYANZI is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with large B cell lymphoma (LBCL), a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, when:
- your first treatment has not worked or your cancer returned within a year of completion your first treatment, OR
- your first treatment has not worked or your cancer returned after the first treatment, and you are not eligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation because of medical conditions or age OR
- two or more kinds of treatment have not worked or stopped working
Breyanzi is different than other cancer medicines because it is made from your own white blood cells, which have been genetically modified to recognize and attack your lymphoma cells.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
What is the most important information I should know about BREYANZI?
BREYANZI may cause side effects that are life-threatening and can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider or get emergency help right away if you get any of the following:
- difficulty breathing
- fever (100.4°F/38°C or higher)
- chills/shaking chills
- confusion
- severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
- fast or irregular heartbeat
- dizziness/lightheadedness
- severe fatigue or weakness
It is important that you tell your healthcare providers that you have received BREYANZI and to show them your BREYANZI Patient Wallet Card. Your healthcare provider may give you other medicines to treat your side effects.
Before getting BREYANZI, tell your healthcare provider about all your medical problems, including if you have or have had:
- Neurologic problems (such as seizures, stroke, or memory loss)
- Lung or breathing problems
- Heart problems
- Liver problems
- Kidney problems
- A recent or active infection
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medications you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
How will I receive BREYANZI?
- BREYANZI is made from your own white blood cells, so your blood will be collected by a process called leukapheresis.
- It takes about 3-4 weeks from the time your cells are received at the manufacturing site and are available to be shipped back to your healthcare provider, but the time may vary.
- Before you get BREYANZI, you will get 3 days of chemotherapy to prepare your body.
- When your BREYANZI is ready, your healthcare provider will give it to you through a catheter placed into your vein (intravenous infusion). BREYANZI is given as infusions of 2 different cell types.
- You will receive infusions of one cell type, immediately followed by the other cell type.
- The time for infusion will vary but will usually be less than 15 minutes for each of the 2 cell types.
- During the first week after infusion, you will be monitored daily by the facility where you received your treatment.
- You should plan to stay within 2 hours of the location where you received your treatment for at least 4 weeks after getting BREYANZI. Your healthcare provider will check to see that your treatment is working and help you with any side effects that may occur.
- You may be hospitalized for side effects. Your healthcare provider will discharge you if your side effects are under control, and it is safe for you to leave the hospital.
- Your healthcare provider will want to do blood tests to follow your progress. It is important that you do have your blood tested. If you miss an appointment, call your healthcare provider as soon as possible to reschedule.
What should I avoid after receiving BREYANZI?
- Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other activities that could be dangerous if you are not mentally alert, for at least 8 weeks after you get BREYANZI. This is because the treatment can cause temporary memory and coordination problems, including sleepiness, confusion, dizziness, and seizures.
- Do not donate blood, organs, tissues, or cells for transplantation.
What are the possible or reasonably likely side effects of BREYANZI?
The most common side effects of BREYANZI are:
- fatigue
- difficulty breathing
- fever (100.4°F/38°C or higher)
- chills/shaking chills
- confusion
- difficulty speaking or slurred speech
- severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
- headache
- dizziness/lightheadedness
- fast or irregular heartbeat
- swelling
- low blood pressure
- muscle pain
BREYANZI can increase the risk of life-threatening infections that may lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you develop fever, chills, or any signs or symptoms of an infection.
BREYANZI can lower one or more types of your blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets). After treatment, your healthcare provider will test your blood to check for this. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get a fever, are feeling tired, or have bruising or bleeding.
BREYANZI may increase your risk of getting cancers including certain types of blood cancers. Your healthcare provider should monitor you for this.
Having BREYANZI in your blood may cause a false-positive HIV test result by some commercial tests.
These are not all the possible side effects of BREYANZI. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. For more information, go to BREYANZI.com or call 1-888-805-4555. You may report side effects to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNINGS and Medication Guide.
© 2024 Bristol Myers Squibb. All rights reserved. [2009-US-2400759] 11/24
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