Improved outcome of COVID-19 over time in patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy: Update of the European COVID-19 multicenter study on behalf of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Infectious Diseases Working Party (IDWP) and the European Hematology Association (EHA) Lymphoma Group
Spanjaart, Anne Mea; Ljungman, Per; Tridello, Gloria; Schwartz, Juana; Martinez-Cibrián, Nuria; Barba, Pere; Kwon, Mi; Lopez-Corral, Lucia; Martinez-Lopez, Joaquin; Ferra, Christelle; Di Blasi, Roberta; Ghesquieres, Hervé; Mutsaers, Pim; Calkoen, Friso; Jak, Margot; van Doesum, Jaap; Vermaat, Joost S.P.; van der Poel, Marjolein; Maertens, Johan; Gambella, Massimiliano; Metafuni, Elisabetta; Ciceri, Fabio; Saccardi, Riccardo; Nicholson, Emma; Tholouli, Eleni; Matthew, Collin; Potter, Victoria; Bloor, Adrian; Besley, Caroline; Roddie, Claire; Wilson, Keith; Nagler, Arnon; Campos, Antonio; Petersen, Soeren Lykke; Folber, Frantisek; Bader, Peter; Finke, Jurgen; Kroger, Nicolaus; Knelange, Nina; de La Camara, Rafael; Kersten, Marie José; Mielke, Stephan
(2024) Leukemia, volume 38, pp.
(Article)
Abstract
COVID-19 has been associated with high mortality in patients treated with Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for hematologic malignancies. Here, we investigated whether the outcome has improved over time with the primary objective of assessing COVID-19-attributable mortality in the Omicron period of 2022 compared to previous years. Data for
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this multicenter study were collected using the MED-A and COVID-19 report forms developed by the EBMT. One-hundred-eighty patients were included in the analysis, 39 diagnosed in 2020, 35 in 2021 and 106 in 2022. The median age was 58.9 years (min-max: 5.2–78.4). There was a successive decrease in COVID-19-related mortality over time (2020: 43.6%, 2021: 22.9%, 2022: 7.5%) and in multivariate analysis year of infection was the strongest predictor of survival (p = 0.0001). Comparing 2022 with 2020–2021, significantly fewer patients had lower respiratory symptoms (21.7% vs 37.8%, p = 0.01), needed oxygen support (25.5% vs 43.2%, p = 0.01), or were admitted to ICU (5.7% vs 33.8%, p = 0.0001). Although COVID-19-related mortality has decreased over time, CAR T-cell recipients remain at higher risk for complications than the general population. Consequently, vigilant monitoring for COVID-19 in patients undergoing B-cell-targeting CAR T-cell treatment is continuously recommended ensuring optimal prevention of infection and advanced state-of-the art treatment when needed.
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Keywords: Hematology, Oncology, Cancer Research
ISSN: 0887-6924
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Note: Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.
(Peer reviewed)