Clinical characteristics of 17 critically ill children with severe adverse reactions after chimeric antigen receptor T cells therapy / 中国小儿急救医学

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment process and prognosis of children with severe side effects after chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy(CAR-T), so as to provide evidence for timely intervention after CAR-T treatment.Methods:From June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2020, children with cytokine release syndrome(CRS)or immune cell related neurotoxicity syndrome(ICANS)who were treated with CAR-T therapy in our hospital and revealed severe effects transferred to PICU were included in the study, and their clinical course and multiple laboratory examination data were systematically analyzed.Results:Seventeen children showed CRS reaction and entered PICU after CAR-T therapy.The most common clinical symptoms were respiratory distress(13 cases) and circulatory disorder(10 cases), of which 7 cases were complicated with severe ICANS.Serum interferon -γ(IFN-γ)and interleukin-6(IL-6)levels significantly increased after CAR-T cell infusion, reaching the peak at (5.1±1.6)days.The serum levels of IFN-γ and IL-6 in children with severe CRS were significantly higher than those in children with mild CRS(all P<0.05). The level of serum IL-6 in children with high tumor load was significantly higher than that in children with low tumor load( P<0.05). The mortality rate of children with elevated level of serum TNF-α was higher(5/5 vs.3/11, P<0.05). Children with severe CRS were more likely to develop grade 4 ICANS(4/4 vs.0/3, P<0.05). The mortality rate of children with oxygenation index(P/F value)<200 mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) was higher(5/5 vs.2/12, P<0.05). The vasoactive inotropic score[ M( Min, Max)] in the death group was significantly higher than that in survival group[29.5(14.0, 50.0) vs.1.5(0, 25.0), Z=8.000, P=0.027]. Conclusion:Serum IL-6 and IFN-γ are crucial causes of CRS.High tumor load is one of the factors causing high level of serum inflammatory factors.Respiration and circulation systems are the most frequently involved systems.Therefore, the evaluation indexes of these two systems can help us judge the prognosis of children.