Safety of CAR T-cell therapy for cancer in pre-existing autoimmune or inflammatory disease: a retrospective comparative cohort study
CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is approved to treat some types of relapsed B-cell lymphomas and leukaemias, and B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted CAR T-cell therapy is approved to treat relapsed multiple myeloma. A prospective case series of 15 patients who received CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapy for refractory systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases showed efficacy, with all reaching drug-free remission.1 However, 11 of 15 had cytokine release syndrome, and one in 15 had immune-effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS), although nearly all adverse events were mild (grade 1).
