CD19 CAR T-cell therapy with axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) for relapsed or refractory (R/R) large B cell lymphoma (LBCL) may lead to durable remissions, however, prolonged cytopenias and infections may occur. In this single center retrospective study of 85 patients, we characterized immune reconstitution and infections for patients remaining in remission after axi-cel for LBCL. Prolonged cytopenias (those occurring at or after day 30 following infusion) were common with >= grade 3 neutropenia seen in 21/70 (30-0%) patients at day 30 and persisting in 3/31 (9-7%) patients at 1 year. B cells were undetectable in 30/34 (88-2%) patients at day 30, but were detected in 11/19 (57-9%) at 1 year. Median IgG levels reached a nadir at day 180. By contrast, CD4 T cells decreased from baseline and were persistently low with a median CD4 count of 155 cells/μl at 1 year after axi-cel (n=19, range 33 – 269). In total, 23/85 (27-1%) patients received IVIG after axi-cel, and 34/85 (40-0%) received G-CSF. Infections in the first 30 days occurred in 31/85 (36-5%) patients, of which 11/85 (12-9%) required intravenous antibiotics or hospitalization (“severe”) and were associated with cytokine release syndrome (CRS), neurotoxicity, tocilizumab use, corticosteroid use, and bridging therapy on univariate analyses. After day 30, 7 severe infections occurred, with no late deaths due to infection. Prolonged cytopenias are common following axi-cel therapy for LBCL and typically recover with time. Most patients experience profound and prolonged CD4 T cell immunosuppression without severe infection.

Epidemiologic investigation of invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) may be useful to identify subpopulations who might benefit from targeted treatment strategies. The Gruppo Italiano Trapianto Midollo Osseo (GITMO) prospectively registered data on 1858 consecutive patients undergoing allo-HSCT between 2008 and 2010. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for proven/probable IFD (PP-IFD) during the early (days 0 to 40), late (days 41 to 100), and very late (days 101 to 365) phases after allo-HSCT and to evaluate the impact of PP-IFDs on 1-year overall survival. The cumulative incidence of PP-IFDs was 5.1% at 40 days, 6.7% at 100 days, and 8.8% at 12 months post-transplantation. Multivariate analysis identified the following variables as associated with PP-IFDs: transplant from an unrelated volunteer donor or cord blood, active acute leukemia at the time of transplantation, and an IFD before transplantation in the early phase; transplant from an unrelated volunteer donor or cord blood and grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in the late phase; and grade II-IV acute GVHD and extensive chronic GVHD in the very late phase. The risk for PP-IFD was significantly higher when acute GVHD was followed by chronic GVHD and when acute GVHD occurred in patients undergoing transplantation with grafts from other than matched related donors. The presence of PP-IFD was an independent factor in long-term survival (hazard ratio, 2.90; 95% confidence interval, 2.32 to 3.62; P < .0001). Our findings indicate that tailored prevention strategies may be useful in subpopulations at differing levels of risk for PP-IFDs.

In healthy donors it is possible to predict successful HPC mobilization by donor sex, age, WBC count, and G-CSF form and dose. Furthermore, based on these data, it may be possible, at least in parental setting, to modulate G-CSF dosage on the basis of donor characteristics.

We conducted a retrospective, nationwide analysis to describe the clinical outcome of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL) undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) after being treated with a TKI based therapy. Patients and results: A total of 441 patients were included in the study. The median age at HSCT was 44 (range: 18-70). All 441 patients (100%) received TKI before HSCT (performed between 2005-2016). Of these patients, 404 (92%) were in cytologic complete remission (CR) while 37 (8%) had an active disease at the time of HSCT. Molecularly Measurable Residual Disease (MRD) was negative in 147 patients (36%) at the time of HSCT. The donor was unrelated in 46% of cases. The prevalent source of stem cells was peripheral blood (70%). The conditioning regimen was myeloablative in 82% of cases (TBI-based in 50%) and included ATG in 51% of cases. With a median follow-up after HSCT of 39.4 months (range: 1-145), the probability of Overall Survival (OS) at 1, 2 and 5 years was 69.6%, 61.1%, and 50.3%, respectively, with a median OS of 62 months. Progression Free Survival (PFS) at 1, 2 and 5 years was 60.2%, 52.1% and 43.7%, respectively. OS and PFS were significantly better in patients with CR and MRD-negativity at the time of transplant compared to patients with CR but MRD-positive (50% OS not reached vs. 36 months, P=0,015; 50% PFS not reached vs. 26 months, P=0.003). The cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) at 5 years was significantly lower in patients with CR and MRD-negativity (19.5% vs. 35.4%, P=0.001). The non relapse mortality (NRM) after 1, 2, and 5 years was 19.1% (95%CI: 15.5-22.9), 20.7% (95%CI: 17-24.7), and 24.1% (95%CI: 20-28.5), respectively. The subgroup of patients with MRD-negative both at HSCT and at 3rd month after HSCT had a better outcome (5 year OS 70%). Conversely, the 37 patients who underwent HSCT with active Ph+ALL had a median OS and PFS of 7 and 5 months, respectively. Conclusions: The median OS of all patients with Ph+ALL, treated with TKI based therapy and allografted in recent years at the GITMO Centers, is 62 months. The outcome of Ph+ALL patients undergoing HSCT after TKI therapy has improved (with a 2 yrs NRM of 20,7%), particularly for younger patients and those achieving a molecular remission before transplant (50% OS and PFS not reached). HSCT remains a standard of care consolidation treatment for Ph+ALL and only prospective randomized trials can suggest a survival benefit of non transplant based treatment strategies.

Our data suggest that CD3+ cell evaluation in ECP during the early phase of treatment course could predict response and help identify patients who deserve further treatment.