COVID-19 and CAR-T cells: current challenges and future directions-a report from the EPICOVIDEHA survey by EHA-IDWP.
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Busca A, Salmanton-García J, Corradini P, Marchesi F, Cabirta A, Di Blasi R, Dulery R, Lamure S, Farina F, Weinbergerová B, Batinić J, Nordlander A, Lopez-Garcia A, Drgona L, Espigado I, Falces-Romero I, Garcia-Sanz R, Garcia-Vidal C, Guidetti A, Khanna N, Kulesekararaj A, Maertens J, Hoenigl M, Klimko N, Koehler P, Pagliuca A, Passamonti F, Cornely O, Pagano L
Blood Adv - (-) - [2021-11-08; online 2021-11-08]
Patients receiving chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) therapy may be particularly susceptible to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because of several factors including the immunosuppression associated to the underlying disease and delayed cytopenias. Regrettably, data on outcomes of CAR-T recipients with COVID-19 are extremely scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients treated with CAR-T therapy. The European Hematology Association - Scientific Working Group Infection in Hematology endorsed a survey to collect and analyze data from patients developing COVID-19 after CAR-T therapy. Overall, 459 patients treated with CAR-T cells were reported from 18 European centers. The prevalence of COVID-19 cases was 4.8%. Median time from CAR-T therapy and COVID-19 diagnosis was 169 days. Severe infection occurred in 66.7% of patients and 43.3% of the subjects required admission to ICU. The COVID-19 mortality was 33%. In multivariable analysis, the disease status at the time of COVID-19 trended marginally towards adverse outcome (P=0.075). In conclusion, we documented a high fatality rate for CAR-T patients with COVID-19, supporting the need to design successful interventions to mitigate the risk of infection in this vulnerable group of patients.
PubMed 34749396
DOI 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021005616
Crossref 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021005616
pii: 477883
pmc: PMC8575532