Press Release

Mount Sinai Researchers Pioneer First Targeted Therapy for Rare T-Cell Lymphoma After CAR T Treatment

New York, NY
(August 21, 2025)

A team of researchers from The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has successfully treated a rare and aggressive T-cell lymphoma that developed after CAR T-cell therapy for multiple myeloma, marking a first in the field of hematologic cancer research. The findings were published in the August 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

CAR T therapy, which reprograms a patient’s immune cells to attack cancer, has shown transformative results in treating multiple myeloma. However, in rare cases, serious complications such as secondary cancers can occur. In this groundbreaking case, a 51-year-old patient went into complete remission from myeloma following B-cell maturation antigen CAR T treatment but subsequently developed rapidly progressing T cell lymphoma in his skin, blood, and bone marrow.

Using advanced genetic and immunologic screening techniques developed at Mount Sinai, the research team identified a combination of compounds approved by the Food and Drug Administration that were capable of targeting the lymphoma. Notably, they discovered that the antibody drug anti-CCR4 (never before used in this context) was effective in eliminating the patient’s cancer. Today, the patient remains in remission from both multiple myeloma and lymphoma.

“This is the first reported case of successfully using targeted therapy to treat a CAR positive T-cell lymphoma,” said senior author Samir Parekh, MD, Director of the Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma at The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “It highlights the importance of monitoring for secondary cancers and leveraging precision medicine to respond quickly when they emerge.”

Mount Sinai researchers are continuing to investigate the biology of these rare side effects and developing safer and more durable CAR T treatments for patients with multiple myeloma.

This research represents a multidisciplinary collaboration between the labs of Joshua Brody, MD, Patrick Brunner, MD, MSc and The Parekh Lab, the Icahn Genomics Institute, and the Departments of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, and Immunology and Immunotherapy, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Lead authors Adolfo Aleman, PhD, and Oliver Van Oekelen, MD, PhD, contributed equally to the study. The team also included David T. Melnekoff, PhD (deceased); Leah Grossman, MS; Tarek H. Mouhieddine, MD; Agata Kurowski, PhD; Ivan Odak, PhD; Sidorela Reci, BA; Shriya Desai, BA; Shannon Meledathu, BS; Malini P. Naidu, BA; Ravi P. Shukla, PhD; Rudra P. Dutta, PhD; Katerina Kappes, BS; Kseniya Serebryakova, LPN; Hayley Jackson, BA; Jordan Lu, BA; Anastasia Chatikhine; Raksha Kulkarni, MD; Zahra Moinfar, MD, PhD; Matthew M. Croken, PhD; Meenakshi Mehrotra, PhD; Brett Baskovich, MD; Sampanna Rayamajhi, MD; Shambavi Richard, MD; Adriana C. Rossi, MD; Christian Salib, MD; Jane Houldsworth, PhD; Brian D. Brown, PhD; Miriam Merad, MD, PhD; Alessandro Laganà, PhD; Patrick M. Brunner, MD, MSc; Sundar Jagannath, MBBS; Joshua D. Brody, MD; and Dr. Parekh.

Funding was provided from the National Institutes of Health, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and philanthropic contributions dedicated to advancing research in multiple myeloma.

About the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the seven member hospitals* of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to New York City’s large and diverse patient population. 

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers highly competitive MD, PhD, MD-PhD, and master’s degree programs, with enrollment of more than 1,200 students. It has the largest graduate medical education program in the country, with more than 2,600 clinical residents and fellows training throughout the Health System. Its Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers 13 degree-granting programs, conducts innovative basic and translational research, and trains more than 560 postdoctoral research fellows. 

Ranked 11th nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is among the 99th percentile in research dollars per investigator according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.  More than 4,500 scientists, educators, and clinicians work within and across dozens of academic departments and multidisciplinary institutes with an emphasis on translational research and therapeutics. Through Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), the Health System facilitates the real-world application and commercialization of medical breakthroughs made at Mount Sinai.

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* Mount Sinai Health System member hospitals: The Mount Sinai Hospital; Mount Sinai Brooklyn; Mount Sinai Morningside; Mount Sinai Queens; Mount Sinai South Nassau; Mount Sinai West; and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.  

Tags: Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center, Our Services, Research, Adolfo Aleman, PhD, Joshua Brody, MD, Patrick M. Brunner, MD, OLIVER VAN OEKELEN, Samir Parekh, MBBS

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.

As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.

Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.