No abstract

Data are scarce regarding both safety and immunogenicity of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in patients undergoing immune cell therapy, thus we prospectively evaluated these 2 domains in patients receiving this vaccine after allogeneic HCT (n=66) or after CD19-based CART therapy (n=14). Overall, vaccine was well tolerated, with mild non-hematologic vaccine-reported adverse events in minority of the patients. 12% (after first dose) and 10% (after second dose) of the patients developed cytopenia and there were 3 cases GVHD exacerbation after each dose. A single case of impending graft rejection was summarized as possibly related. Evaluation of immunogenicity showed that 57% of patients after CART infusion and 75% patients after allogeneic HCT had evidence of humoral and/or cellular response to the vaccine. On cox regression model, longer time from infusion of cells, female sex, and higher CD19 + cells were associated with a positive humoral response, whereas higher CD4 + /CD8 + ratiowas correlated with a positive cellular response, confirmed by ELISpot test. We conclude that BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has impressive immunogenicity in patients after allogeneic HCT or CART. Adverse events were mostly mild and transient, but some significant hematologic events were observed, hence, patients should be closely monitored.

Lenalidomide yields sustained RBC-TI in 26.9% of RBC transfusion-dependent patients with lower-risk non-del(5q) myelodysplastic syndromes ineligible for or refractory to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Response to lenalidomide was associated with improved HRQoL. Treatment-emergent adverse event data were consistent with the known safety profile of lenalidomide.

Survival of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is inferior to that of pediatric patients. Strategies to improve the outcome of adult population are warranted. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pediatric-inspired regimens given to adolescents and young adults (AYA), usually defined as 16-39 years, with ALL. Systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative trials of AYA patients with ALL given induction chemotherapy with either pediatric-inspired regimens or conventional-adult chemotherapy was conducted. Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated and pooled. Our search yielded 11 trials, including 2,489 patients. AYA patients given pediatric-inspired regimens had a statistically significant lower all cause mortality rate at 3 years (RR 0.58; 95% CI 0.51-0.67). Complete remission rate after induction chemotherapy and event free survival were superior in the pediatric-inspired regimens arm (RR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.10 and RR 1.66; 95% CI 1.39-1.99, respectively). Relapse rate was also lower in patients given pediatric-inspired regimens (RR 0.51; 95% CI 0.39-0.66) with comparable nonrelapse mortality between the two groups (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.19-1.48). Pediatric-inspired regimens are superior to conventional-adult chemotherapy in AYA ALL patients. Further randomized controlled studies to investigate this approach in adult ALL patients are warranted. Am. J. Hematol. 87:472-478, 2012. V