An owner's manual for CD19 "CAR"-T cell therapy in managing pediatric and young adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell based cellular therapies for cancer: An introduction and Indian perspective

Using one's own immune system for curing cancer has been an active field of research in cancer biology and therapeutics. One such opportunity in cellular immunotherapy is adoptive cell transfers. With the recent approval of CAR-T therapy as a cancer treatment, a whole new paradigm of cancer treatment has opened-up, with a ray of hope for relapsed/refractory cancer patients. Despite promising clinical outcomes, the therapy is in its early phase and remains out of reach for most patients due to its high cost and logistic challenges. In India, these therapies are unavailable and further confounded by the economic challenges and a large population. In this review, we discuss various aspects of T-cell immunotherapies with a special focus on CAR-T in the Indian scenario. We touch upon the basic scientific aspects, mechanism of action, manufacturing, clinical aspects and commercial aspects of the CAR-Tcell therapies and its future worldwide and in India.

Take a spin: Apheresis in the care of adult leukaemia patients

Apheresis is an automated process to separate the whole blood of a patient or a donor, collect or remove specific blood components, and return the remaining back to the individual. Apheresis is an integral part of blood and marrow transplantation and has been increasingly utilized in novel cellular therapies for a variety of blood disorders. This review uses clinical cases to highlight the multiple roles of apheresis in the care of adult leukaemia patients, including therapeutic leukapheresis in hyperleukocytosis, mobilized peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitor cell collection in donors, mononucleated cell collection in preparation of donor lymphocyte infusion or chimeric antigen receptor T cells manufacture, and extracorporeal photopheresis in the treatment of graft versus host diseases.

Outcomes of Critically Ill Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Cytokine Release Syndrome Due to Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy: US, Multicenter PICU, Cohort Database Study

OBJECTIVES

Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is a potentially lethal toxicity associated with chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Outcomes after critical illness due to severe CRS are poorly described. Our aim was to characterize critical illness outcomes across a multicenter cohort of PICU patients with ALL and CRS.

DESIGN

Multicenter retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Twenty-one PICUs contributing data to Virtual Pediatric Systems, LLC (January 2020-December 2021).

PATIENTS

PICU patients with ALL or unclassified leukemia and CRS.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

We identified 55 patients; 34 (62%) were 12 years or older, 48 (87%) were admitted from a hospital inpatient ward, and 23 (42%) received advanced organ failure support or monitoring. Fifty-one survived to PICU discharge (93%) including 19 of 23 (83%) who received advanced organ failure support or monitoring defined as receipt of noninvasive or invasive ventilation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, continuous renal replacement therapy, or placement of a tracheostomy, arterial catheter, hemodialysis catheter, or intracranial catheter. Twelve patients (22%) received invasive ventilation, nine of whom survived to PICU discharge. Two of four patients who received continuous renal replacement therapy and one of three patients who required cardiopulmonary resuscitation survived to PICU discharge. Lengths of PICU stay were median 3.0 days (interquartile range, 1.4-7.8 d) among PICU survivors, 7.8 (5.4-11.1) among those receiving advanced organ failure support or monitoring, and 7.2 days (interquartile range, 2.9-14.7 d) among nonsurvivors. Of the 51 patients who survived to PICU discharge, 48 (94%) survived the hospitalization.

CONCLUSIONS

PICU patients with CRS frequently received a high level of support, and the majority survived their PICU stay and hospitalization. Additional multicenter investigations of severe CRS are necessary to inform evidence-based practice.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy in Paediatric B-Cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: Curative Treatment Option or Bridge to Transplant?

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) targeting CD19 has been associated with remarkable responses in paediatric patients and adolescents and young adults (AYA) with relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (BCP-ALL). Tisagenlecleucel, the first approved CD19 CAR-T, has become a viable treatment option for paediatric patients and AYAs with BCP-ALL relapsing repeatedly or after haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Based on the chimeric antigen receptor molecular design and the presence of a 4-1BB costimulatory domain, tisagenlecleucel can persist for a long time and thereby provide sustained leukaemia control. "Real-world" experience with tisagenlecleucel confirms the safety and efficacy profile observed in the pivotal registration trial. Recent guidelines for the recognition, management and prevention of the two most common adverse events related to CAR-T - cytokine release syndrome and immune-cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome - have helped to further decrease treatment toxicity. Consequently, the questions of how and for whom CD19 CAR-T could substitute HSCT in BCP-ALL are inevitable. Currently, 40-50% of R/R BCP-ALL patients relapse post CD19 CAR-T with either CD19- or CD19+ disease, and consolidative HSCT has been proposed to avoid disease recurrence. Contrarily, CD19 CAR-T is currently being investigated in the upfront treatment of high-risk BCP-ALL with an aim to avoid allogeneic HSCT and associated treatment-related morbidity, mortality and late effects. To improve survival and decrease long-term side effects in children with BCP-ALL, it is important to define parameters predicting the success or failure of CAR-T, allowing the careful selection of candidates in need of HSCT consolidation. In this review, we describe the current clinical evidence on CAR-T in BCP-ALL and discuss factors associated with response to or failure of this therapy: product specifications, patient- and disease-related factors and the impact of additional therapies given before (e.g., blinatumomab and inotuzumab ozogamicin) or after infusion (e.g., CAR-T re-infusion and/or checkpoint inhibition). We discuss where to position CAR-T in the treatment of BCP-ALL and present considerations for the design of supportive trials for the different phases of disease. Finally, we elaborate on clinical settings in which CAR-T might indeed replace HSCT.

Associação Brasileira de Hematologia, Hemoterapia e Terapia Celular Consensus on genetically modified cells. II: CAR-T cell therapy for patients with CD19+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy is a novel therapeutic modality for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with robust outcomes in patients with refractory or relapsed disease. At the same time, CAR-T cell therapy is associated with unique and potentially fatal toxicities, such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurological toxicities (ICANS). This manuscript aims to provide a consensus of specialists in the fields of Hematology Oncology and Cellular Therapy to make recommendations on the current scenario of the use of CAR-T cells in patients with ALL.