Management of cytokine release syndrome after chimeric antigen T-cell therapy for paediatric relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a case report

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.

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Using JAK inhibitor to treat cytokine release syndrome developed after chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy for patients with refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Medicine ◽

10.1097/md.0000000000025786 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 100 (19) ◽

pp. e25786

Author(s):

Fu Ming Zi ◽

Long Long Ye ◽

Ji Fu Zheng ◽

Jing Cheng ◽

Qing Ming Wang

Keyword(s):

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽

T Cell ◽

Cell Therapy ◽

Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽

Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽

Antigen Receptor ◽

Jak Inhibitor ◽

Cytokine Release ◽

Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽

T Cell Therapy

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Clinical Presentation, Management and Biomarkers of Cytokine Release Syndrome after Anti-CD19 CART-Cell Therapy for r/r ALL

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2019-130119 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 5625-5625

Author(s):

Ping Li ◽

Lili Zhou ◽

Shiguang Ye ◽

Shaoguang Li ◽

Aibin Liang

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Cell Therapy ◽

Clinical Presentation ◽

Cytokine Release ◽

Cytokine Release Syndrome ◽

T Cell Therapy ◽

Car T Cell ◽

Car T Cell Therapy ◽

Car T ◽

Grade 3

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has emerged as a novel treatment modality for B-cell malignancies. CD19-specific CAR-T cells induce high rates of initial response among patients with relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is the most common and severe toxicities of CAR T-cell therapy for ALL, and clinical experience is limited. Here, we describe the clinical presentation and management of 30 patients who presented with CRS following CAR-T cell therapy for relapsed/refractory ALL at our hospital. 12 of the 30 patients (40%) developed grade 1-2 CRS, 14 patients (46.7%) presented with grade 3-4 CRS and 2 patients (6.7%) died of grade 5 CRS. Compared with grade 1-2 CRS, grade 3-4 CRS correlated negatively with overall survival and progression-free survival (P =0.02). We found that higher ferritin levels and percentages of CD19 positive cells in blood lymphocytes cells at time of CAR-T cell infusion were associated with more severe CRS. Grade 3-4 neurotoxicity was frequently present in patients with grade ≧3 CRS. We also observed that the organ disfunctions occurred in sequence after fever onset during the period of CRS. Neurotoxicity, cardiovascular disfunction and cytopenia in some patients manifest as biphasic. Compared to use of tocilizumab for CRS ≧ grade 3, early intervention of tocilizumab for hyperpyrexia duration ≧ 6h alleviates the severity of CRS, and no patients died of severe CRS since this management approach was performed. As use of novel CAR-T cell therapy expands, the data from our clinical experience may help others anticipated the clinical course of organ function and manage CRS in CAR-T therapy. Figure Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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