Can a rheumatoid arthritis drug tame CAR-T's worst side effects?

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Subjects must be 18 years of age or older * Karnofsky performance status of \>= 60% * Patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) and eligible for treatment with liso-cel. Patients treated with non-conforming (out-of-specification) liso-cell may remain on study. * Negative serum pregnancy test within 2 weeks of enrollment for women of childbearing potential, defined as those who have not been surgically sterilized or who have not been free of menses for at least 1 year * Fertile male and female subjects must be willing to use an effective contraceptive method before, during, and for at least 4 months after the last dose of anakinra * Ability to understand and provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Subjects requiring ongoing daily corticosteroid therapy at a dose of \> 15 mg of prednisone per day (or equivalent). Pulsed corticosteroid use for disease control is acceptable * Active autoimmune disease requiring immunosuppressive therapy is excluded unless discussed with the principal investigator (PI) * Known hypersensitivity to Escherichia € coli-derived proteins, anakinra, or to any component of the product * Major organ dysfunction defined as: * Serum creatinine \> 2.5 mg/dL * Significant hepatic dysfunction (Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) \> 5x upper limit of normal; bilirubin \> 3.0 mg/dL) unless due to malignancy or Gilbert's syndrome in the opinion of the PI or designee * Subjects with clinically significant pulmonary dysfunction, as determined by medical history and physical exam should undergo pulmonary function testing. Those with a forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) of \< 50% of predicted or diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (corrected) \< 40% will be excluded * Significant cardiovascular abnormalities as defined by any one of the following: New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV congestive heart failure, clinically significant hypotension, uncontrolled symptomatic coronary artery disease, or a documented ejection fraction of \< 35% * Uncontrolled serious and active infection