Intention-to-treat outcomes utilising a stringent event definition in children and young people treated with tisagenlecleucel for r/r ALL through a national access scheme.

CAR T-cell therapy has transformed relapsed/refractory (r/r) B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) management and outcomes, but following CAR T infusion, interventions are often needed. In a UK multicentre study, we retrospectively evaluated tisagenlecleucel outcomes in all eligible patients, analysing overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) with standard and stringent definitions, the latter including measurable residual disease (MRD) emergence and further anti-leukaemic therapy. Both intention-to-treat and infused cohorts were considered. We collected data on feasibility of delivery, manufacture, toxicity, cause of therapy failure and followed patients until death from any cause. Of 142 eligible patients, 125 received tisagenlecleucel, 115/125 (92%) achieved complete remission (CR/CRi). Severe cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity occurred in 16/123 (13%) and 10/123 (8.1%), procedural mortality was 3/126 (2.4%). The 2-year intent to treat OS and EFS were 65.2% (95%CI 57.2-74.2%) and 46.5% (95%CI 37.6-57.6%), 2-year intent to treat stringent EFS was 35.6% (95%CI 28.1-44.9%). Median OS was not reached. Sixty-two responding patients experienced CAR T failure by the stringent event definition. Post failure, 1-year OS and standard EFS were 61.2% (95%CI 49.3-75.8) and 55.3% (95%CI 43.6-70.2). Investigation of CAR T-cell therapy for B-ALL delivered on a country-wide basis, including following patients beyond therapy failure, provides clinicians with robust outcome measures. Previously, outcomes post CAR T-cell therapy failure were under-reported. Our data show that patients can be successfully salvaged in this context with good short-term survival.

Safety and efficacy of autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation with low-dose cyclophosphamide mobilisation and reduced intensity conditioning versus standard of care in refractory Crohn's disease (ASTIClite): an open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: A previous controlled trial of autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients with refractory Crohn's disease did not meet its primary endpoint and reported high toxicity. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of HSCT with an immune-ablative regimen of reduced intensity versus standard of care in this patient population. METHODS: This open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled trial was conducted in nine National Health Service hospital trusts across the UK. Adults (aged 18-60 years) with active Crohn's disease on endoscopy (Simplified Endoscopic Score for Crohn's Disease [SES-CD] ulcer sub-score of ≥2) refractory to two or more classes of biological therapy, with no perianal or intra-abdominal sepsis or clinically significant comorbidity, were recruited. Participants were centrally randomly assigned (2:1) to either HSCT with a reduced dose of cyclophosphamide (intervention group) or standard care (control group). Randomisation was stratified by trial site by use of random permuted blocks of size 3 and 6. Patients in the intervention group underwent stem-cell mobilisation (cyclophosphamide 1 g/m2 with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) 5 µg/kg) and stem-cell harvest (minimum 2·0 × 106 CD34+ cells per kg), before conditioning (fludarabine 125 mg/m2, cyclophosphamide 120 mg/kg, and rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin [thymoglobulin] 7·5 mg/kg in total) and subsequent stem-cell reinfusion supported by G-CSF. Patients in the control group continued any available conventional, biological, or nutritional therapy. The primary outcome was absence of endoscopic ulceration (SES-CD ulcer sub-score of 0) without surgery or death at week 48, analysed in the intention-to-treat population by central reading. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, 17160440. FINDINGS: Between Oct 18, 2018, and Nov 8, 2019, 49 patients were screened for eligibility, of whom 23 (47%) were randomly assigned: 13 (57%) to the intervention group and ten (43%) to the control group. In the intervention group, ten (77%) participants underwent HSCT and nine (69%) reached 48-week follow-up; in the control group, nine (90%) reached 48-week follow-up. The trial was halted in response to nine reported suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions in six (46%) patients in the intervention group, including renal failure due to proven thrombotic microangiopathy in three participants and one death due to pulmonary veno-occlusive disease. At week 48, absence of endoscopic ulceration without surgery or death was reported in three (43%) of seven participants in the intervention group and in none of six participants in the control group with available data. Serious adverse events were more frequent in the intervention group (38 in 13 [100%] patients) than in the control group (16 in four [40%] patients). A second patient in the intervention group died after week 48 of respiratory and renal failure. INTERPRETATION: Although HSCT with an immune-ablative regimen of reduced intensity decreased endoscopic disease activity, significant adverse events deem this regimen unsuitable for future clinical use in patients with refractory Crohn's disease. FUNDING: Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme, a Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research partnership.

Effective bridging therapy can improve CD19 CAR-T outcomes while maintaining safety in patients with large B-cell lymphoma.

The impact of bridging therapy (BT) on CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CD19CAR-T) outcomes in large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) is poorly characterized. Current practice is guided through physician preference rather than established evidence. Identification of effective BT modalities and factors predictive of response could improve both CAR-T intention to treat and clinical outcomes. We assessed BT modality and response in 375 adult patients with LBCL in relation to outcomes after axicabtagene ciloleucel (Axi-cel) or tisagenlecleucel (Tisa-cel) administration. The majority of patients received BT with chemotherapy (57%) or radiotherapy (17%). We observed that BT was safe for patients, with minimal morbidity or mortality. We showed that complete or partial response to BT conferred a 42% reduction in disease progression and death after CD19CAR-T therapy. Multivariate analysis identified several factors associated with likelihood of response to BT, including response to last line therapy, the absence of bulky disease, and the use of polatuzumab-containing chemotherapy regimens. Our data suggested that complete or partial response to BT may be more important for Tisa-cel than for Axi-cel, because all patients receiving Tisa-cel with less than partial response to BT experienced frank relapse within 12 months of CD19CAR-T infusion. In summary, BT in LBCL should be carefully planned toward optimal response and disease debulking, to improve patient outcomes associated with CD19CAR-T. Polatuzumab-containing regimens should be strongly considered for all suitable patients, and failure to achieve complete or partial response to BT before Tisa-cel administration may prompt consideration of further lines of BT where possible.

Introducing biomarkers for invasive fungal disease in haemato-oncology patients: a single-centre experience.

Hypothesis/Gap Statement. The impacts of increased biomarker testing on antifungal prescribing have not yet been fully examined in a real-life setting.Objectives. Biomarkers for invasive fungal disease (IFD) have been shown to reduce antifungal prescriptions in neutropaenic haemato-oncology patients. Our study aimed to assess the real-life impacts of introducing a novel biomarker-based pathway, incorporating serum galactomannan and Aspergillus PCR, for pyrexial haemato-oncology admissions.Methods. Patients with neutropaenic fever were identified prospectively after introduction of the new pathway from 2013-2015. A historical group of neutropaenic patients who had blood cultures taken from 2009-2012 was generated for comparison. Clinical details, including demographics, underlying diagnosis, investigations, radiology and antimicrobial treatment were obtained.Results. Prospective data from 308 patients were compared to retrospective data from 302 patients. The proportion of patients prescribed an antifungal medication was unchanged by the pathway (P=0.79), but the pattern was different, with more patients receiving targeted antifungals (P=0.04). A negative serum galactomannan test was not sufficient evidence to withhold therapy, with 17.2% of these episodes felt to have possible or probable IFD using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Invasive Fungal Infections Cooperative Group and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Mycoses Study Group (EORTC/MSG) criteria. There was no difference in 30-day mortality (P=0.21) or 1-year mortality (P=0.57) following introduction of the pathway.Conclusions. Biomarkers can be used safely as part of a multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis of IFD in neutropaenic haemato-oncology patients. Whilst they do not necessarily result in antifungal therapy being withheld, they can allow more confident diagnosis of IFD and more specific antifungal therapy in selected cases.

ADA2 deficiency complicated by EBV-driven lymphoproliferative disease.

A 29-year old male with recurrent respiratory and skin infections, anaemia and neutropaenia during childhood required immunoglobulin replacement for antibody deficiency from age 16. He remained relatively well until age 28 when he presented with a two-week history of fatigue, sore throat, fever and productive cough. He was found to have EBV viraemia and splenomegaly and a diagnosis of EBV-driven lymphoproliferative disease was made following bone marrow trephine. Family history was notable with three siblings: a healthy sister and two brothers with anaemia and neutropaenia; one who succumbed to septicaemia secondary to neutropaenic enterocolitis age 5 and another who developed intestinal vasculitis and antibody deficiency and had a successful haemopoetic stem cell transplant. The proband's DNA underwent targeted sequencing of 279 genes associated with immunodeficiency (GRID panel). The best candidates were two ADA2 variants, p.Arg169Gln (R169Q) and p.Asn370Lys (N370K). Sanger sequencing and co-segregation of variants in the parents, unaffected sister and all three affected brothers was fully consistent with compound heterozygous inheritance. Subsequent whole genome sequencing of the proband identified no other potential causal variants. ADA2 activity was consistent with a diagnosis of ADA2 deficiency in affected family members. This is the first description of EBV-driven lymphoproliferative disease in ADA2 deficiency. ADA2 deficiency may cause susceptibility to severe EBV-induced disease and we would recommend that EBV status and viral load is monitored in patients with this diagnosis and allogeneic SCT is considered at an early stage for patients whose ADA2 deficiency is associated with significant complications.