Myelopathy Due to CAR-T Related Neurotoxicity Treated with Siltuximab

2021 ◽  
pp. 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000001078
Author(s):  
Yasmin Aghajan ◽  
Alison Yu ◽  
Caron A. Jacobson ◽  
Austin I. Kim ◽  
Leslie Kean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Cell Therapy ◽  
Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽  
Hematologic Malignancy ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Cytokine Release ◽  
Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽  
Car T ◽  
Large Case Series ◽  
Large Case

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CART) cell therapy is highly effective for relapsed/refractory hematologic malignancy [1,2]; however, cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity are observed in up to 77% of patients [3]. In large case series, the most common presentations of neurotoxicity were encephalopathy (57%), headache (42%), tremor (38%) and aphasia (35%). CART mediated spinal cord toxicity is not well characterized. Structural neurologic damage (stroke and intracranial hemorrhage) was only observed in 1-2% and seizures were seen in 1%-8% of cases [3, 4]. Neuroimaging findings in patients with neurotoxicity are rare and not specific.

scholarly journals Clinical Characterization and Risk Factors Associated with Cytokine Release Syndrome Induced By COVID-19 and Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy

Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 35-36
Author(s):  
Ruimin Hong ◽  
Houli Zhao ◽  
Yiyun Wang ◽  
Yu Chen ◽  
Hongliu Cai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cell Therapy ◽  
Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽  
Antigen Receptor ◽  
Tumor Burden ◽  
Cytokine Release ◽  
Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽  
T Cell Therapy ◽  
Car T

Background: An excessive immune response during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can induce cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which is associated with life-threatening complications and disease progression. Methods: This study was aimed to investigate the differences and similarities between CRS induced by COVID-19 and CAR-T therapy, then provide valuable experiences for early identification and controlling CRS progression in COVID-19. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical characteristics of severe CRS (sCRS, grade 3-4) induced by COVID-19 (40 patients) or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy as a comparator (41 patients). Results: Grade 4 CRS was significantly more common in the COVID-19 group (15/40 [35.7%] vs. 5/41 [12.2%], P=0.008). CAR-T group had more more dramatic increase in cytokine than COVID-19 group (Figure1), including IL-2 (7.3pg/mL [IQR: 2.0-12.7] vs.1.7 [0.7-2.7], P<0.001), IL-6 (7120.6 pg/mL [1066.8-15 136.4] vs. 110.3 [41.7-728.1], P<0.001), IL-10 (174.5pg/mL [61.7, 434.6] vs. 10.1 [6.3-20.6], P<0.001) and IFN-γ (1308.5pg/mL [296.6, 3108.2] vs .35.0 [16.9-60.8], P<0.001). Interestingly, COVID-19 group had significantly higher levels for TNF-α (31.1 pg/ml [16.1-70.0] vs. 3.3 [1.8-9.6], P<0.001).The correlations between viral load/ tumor burden and various cytokine levels were shown in Figure 2. Lg viral loads were correlated with lg IL-6 (R2=0.101; P<0.001) and lg IL-10 (R2=0.105; P<0.001) .In CAR-T group, LDH was a common indicator related to tumor burden among patients with ALL, NHL, and MM. The lg LDH concentration was correlated with the lg serum concentration of IL-6 (R2=0.161; P=0.01). The independent risk factors for COVID-19-related sCRS were hypertension history (OR: 7.167, 95% CI: 2.345-21.903; P=0.001) and minimum platelets <100×109 /L during disease course (OR: 9.237, 95% CI: 2.544-33.546; P=0.001). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that there were similar processes but different intensity of inflammatory responses of sCRS in COVID-19 and CAR-T group. The diagnose and management of COVID-19 related sCRS can learn lessons from treatment of sCRS induced by CAR-T therapy. Keywords: Cytokine release syndrome, COVID-19, Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy Figure 1 Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Case Report: Local Cytokine Release Syndrome in an Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patient After Treatment With Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy: A Possible Model, Literature Review and Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengxin Luan ◽  
Junjie Zhou ◽  
Haixia Wang ◽  
Xiaoyu Ma ◽  
Zhangbiao Long ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Cell Therapy ◽  
B Cell ◽  
Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽  
Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Cytokine Release ◽  
Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽  
T Cell Therapy ◽  
Car T ◽  
Local Cytokine

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has achieved remarkable clinical efficacy in treatment of many malignancies especially for B-cell hematologic malignancies. However, the application of CAR-T cells is hampered by potentially adverse events, of which cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is one of the severest and the most studied. Local cytokine-release syndrome (L-CRS) at particular parts of the body has been reported once in a while in B-cell lymphoma or other compartmental tumors. The underlying mechanism of L-CRS is not well understood and the existing reports attempting to illustrate it only involve compartmental tumors, some of which even indicated L-CRS only happens in compartmental tumors. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is systemic and our center treated a B-cell ALL patient who exhibited life threatening dyspnea, L-CRS was under suspicion and the patient was successfully rescued with treatment algorithm of CRS. The case is the firstly reported L-CRS related to systemic malignancies and we tentatively propose a model to illustrate the occurrence and development of L-CRS of systemic malignancies inspired by the case and literature, with emphasis on the new recognition of L-CRS.

scholarly journals Sublingual Microcirculatory Imaging As a Novel Tool to Monitor for Cytokine Release Syndrome after Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy

Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 5408-5408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Deitchman ◽  
Michael McCurdy ◽  
Muhammad Gilani ◽  
Aaron P. Rapoport ◽  
Kathleen Ruehle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cell Therapy ◽  
Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Cytokine Release ◽  
Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽  
T Cell Therapy ◽  
Sublingual Microcirculation ◽  
Car T

Abstract Background: Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy is an FDA-approved therapy for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). A common side effect of CAR-T therapy is cytokine release syndrome (CRS), and its severity ranges from mild to severe, and occasionally resulting in death. Patients at particularly high risk for severe CRS may benefit from earlier supportive care and rescue therapies, such as tocilizumab. Although the median onset of CRS has been reported as two days, no existing prognostic tools adequately assist the bedside clinician with triaging which patients will decompensate and warrant escalation of care. For example, biomarkers such as CRP and ferritin are ineffective in predicting CRS severity. Evaluation of the sublingual microcirculation of patients receiving CAR-T therapy may serve as a valuable surveillance tool. The sublingual microcirculation (defined as blood vessels <20um) has been investigated clinically in various inflammatory settings (e.g., sepsis, hemorrhage, surgery). Persistent alterations in microcirculatory flow correlate with worse clinical outcomes. We have used a handheld dark-field microscope, the Cytocam (Bradeus, Netherlands) to image and analyze the sublingual microcirculation of patients receiving CAR-T therapy. Methods: Video images are collected in real time. Prior to interpretation, all video clips were assessed for quality based on the current microcirculation consensus document. Each acceptable clip was then analyzed by using two point-of-care (POC) scoring systems: 1) the microvascular flow index (MFI) and 2) the point-of-care microcirculation (POEM) score. The MFI is determined by dividing the video monitor into four equal quadrants and grading the overall flow of each quadrant with a score from 0-3 (0 = no flow; 1 = intermittent flow; 2 = sluggish flow; 3 = normal flow). The POEM score utilizes an ordinal 1-5 scale (1 = critically impaired; 2 = impaired; 3 = normal with marked heterogeneity; 4 = normal with mild heterogeneity; 5 = normal) that is a composite of four measurements assessing flow impairment and heterogeneity. For each enrolled patient, a baseline measurement was made immediately prior to CAR-T cell infusion with follow up measurements occurring every six hours beginning at hour 18 after cell infusion until hour 72. After hour 72, measurements were made daily until they were deemed no longer at risk for CRS. Results: At this time there is mature data on 7 patients. All patients received Axicabtagene Ciloleucel- a CD19 directed CAR-T cell therapy (Yescarta, Kite Pharma). All patients had normal baseline microcirculation (MFI > 2.6, POEM=5) and normal or near-normal microcirculation at the end of the study period. No patients developed severe CRS (grade 3 and above). Three patients developed grade 2 CRS that required tocilizumab. Patients #1 and #2 both had significant microcirculatory impairments ≥12 hours prior to developing symptoms severe enough to warrant tocilizumab. Patient #3 had normal microcirculation through the first four days of therapy and developed hypotension on day six. We captured a subtle change from a normal MFI and POEM score to mild impairment with both scoring algorithms on day five, one day prior to clinical manifestations of decompensation. For logistical reasons, subsequent data were unable to be obtained. MFI and POEM scores for all patients are listed below in Table 1. The remaining four patients developed grade 1 CRS with associated mild microcirculatory changes. Conclusions: In this pilot study, POC microcirculatory assessments were successfully used to monitor patients undergoing CAR-T therapy. Patients with more severe CRS manifested lower MFI and POEM scores and maintained their nadir longer than those with milder CRS. Our data suggest that CAR-T patients developing CRS manifest early signs of sublingual microcirculatory dysfunction. Moreover, these microcirculatory defects present prior to the development of standard clinical abnormalities, such as macrocirculatory derangements. While further investigation is ongoing, this tool could be used for earlier identification of patients at risk for CRS in order to deliver earlier appropriate therapies, and ultimately to improve patient outcomes. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Management of cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Utkarsh H. Acharya ◽  
Tejaswini Dhawale ◽  
Seongseok Yun ◽  
Caron A. Jacobson ◽  
Julio C. Chavez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Cell Therapy ◽  
Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽  
Antigen Receptor ◽  
Cytokine Release ◽  
Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽  
T Cell Therapy ◽  
Car T Cell ◽  
Car T Cell Therapy ◽  
Car T

scholarly journals Cardiovascular Complications of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy: The Cytokine Release Syndrome and Associated Arrhythmias

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesar Clavijo Simbaqueba ◽  
Maria Patarroyo Aponte ◽  
Peter Kim ◽  
Anita Deswal ◽  
Nicolas L. Palaskas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Cell Therapy ◽  
Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽  
Tumor Antigens ◽  
Antigen Receptor ◽  
Cytokine Release ◽  
Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽  
T Cell Therapy ◽  
Car T

ABSTRACT In recent years, cancer treatment has evolved, and new therapies have been introduced with significant improvement in prognosis. The immunotherapies stand out owing to their efficacy and remission rate. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a part of this new era of therapies. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is a form of adoptive cellular therapy that uses a genetically encoded CAR in modified human T cells to target specific tumor antigens in a nonconventional, non-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) protein presentation. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy successfully identifies tumor antigens and through activation of T cells destroys tumoral cells. It has been found to efficiently induce remission in patients who have been previously treated for B-cell malignancies and have persistent disease. As the use of this novel therapy increases, its potential side effects also have become more evident, including major complications like cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Cytokine release syndrome is a major systemic inflammatory process as a result of massive cytokine production by the proliferating and activated CAR T cells in which multiple interleukins and immune cells contribute to the inflammatory response. Cytokine release syndrome has been associated with cardiovascular life-threatening complications including hypotension, shock, tachycardia, arrhythmias, left ventricular dysfunction, heart failure, and cardiovascular death. Arrhythmias, among its major complications, vary from asymptomatic prolonged corrected QT interval (QTc) to supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, flutter, and ventricular arrhythmias like Torsade de pointes. This article focuses on the cardiovascular complications and arrhythmias associated with CRS and CAR T-cell therapy.

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