High incidence of tuberculosis after alemtuzumab treatment in Hong Kong Chinese patients

A nationwide study on inpatient opportunistic infections in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the pre-ibrutinib era

OBJECTIVE

Opportunistic infections in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have been described in clinical trials, single-center studies, and case reports. We performed a nationwide study to estimate the incidence and impact of inpatient opportunistic infections.

METHODS

The incidence rate (IR) and incidence rate ratio (IRR) for Swedish CLL patients diagnosed 1994-2013, and matched controls were calculated, as well as the case-fatality ratio (CFR).

RESULTS

Among 8989 CLL patients, a total of 829 opportunistic infections were registered (IR 16.6 per 1000 person-years) compared with 252 opportunistic infections in 34 283 matched controls (IR 0.99). The highest incidence in the CLL cohort was for Pneumocystis pneumonia (200 infections, IR 4.03); Herpes zoster (146 infections, IR 2.94), and Pseudomonas (83 infections, IR 1.66) infections. The highest risk relative to matched controls was observed for Pneumocystis pneumonia (IRR 114, 95% confidence interval 58.7-252). The 60-day CFR for CLL patients with opportunistic infections was 23% (188/821), highest for progressive multifocal encephalopathy (5/7, 71%) and aspergillosis (25/60, 42%).

CONCLUSION

We have uniquely depicted the incidence of rare and serious infections in CLL patients and found a relatively high incidence of Pneumocystis pneumonia. Of the most common opportunistic infections, CLL patients with aspergillosis had the poorest prognosis.

Infectious Complications of Biological and Small Molecule Targeted Immunomodulatory Therapies

The past 2 decades have seen a revolution in our approach to therapeutic immunosuppression. We have moved from relying on broadly active traditional medications, such as prednisolone or methotrexate, toward more specific agents that often target a single receptor, cytokine, or cell type, using monoclonal antibodies, fusion proteins, or targeted small molecules. This change has transformed the treatment of many conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, cancers, asthma, and inflammatory bowel disease, but along with the benefits have come risks. Contrary to the hope that these more specific agents would have minimal and predictable infectious sequelae, infectious complications have emerged as a major stumbling block for many of these agents. Furthermore, the growing number and complexity of available biologic agents makes it difficult for clinicians to maintain current knowledge, and most review articles focus on a particular target disease or class of agent. In this article, we review the current state of knowledge about infectious complications of biologic and small molecule immunomodulatory agents, aiming to create a single resource relevant to a broad range of clinicians and researchers. For each of 19 classes of agent, we discuss the mechanism of action, the risk and types of infectious complications, and recommendations for prevention of infection.

Targeted therapies for autoimmune/idiopathic nonmalignant diseases: risk and management of opportunistic infections

INTRODUCTION

The management of patients affected by autoimmune/idiopathic diseases has been revolutionized by the development of targeted therapies (TT). However, the use of TT is complicated by several adverse events, like opportunistic infections (OIs). The potential of TT to predispose to OIs mainly depends on the site of action; nevertheless, such associations are far from being deterministic, because many factors could increase the infection risk.

AREAS COVERED

The impact on the infective risk of different TT used for autoimmune/idiopathic diseases is far from being completely understood. Indeed, many post-marketing reports documented severe or unexpected infections in patients treated with TT that did not emerge during registrative trials. In this review, the authors attempt to provide an easy and practical update about the 'infectious' safety of TT and examine the management strategies of OIs and other infections more frequently observed in the course of treatment with TT.

EXPERT OPINION

The authors suggest to precisely schedule the clinical management of these subjects, both to prevent and eventually treat promptly the TT-related infectious complications. A coordinated approach should be implemented from different medical specialties to improve the overall understanding of safety of TT and, in general, the management of opportunistic infections in immune-compromised hosts.

Tuberculosis and Biologic Therapies: Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor-α and Beyond

Biologic drugs have revolutionized the treatment of certain hematologic, autoimmune, and malignant diseases, but they may place patients at risk for reactivation or acquisition of tuberculosis. This risk is highest with the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors. Amongst this class of drugs, the monoclonal antibodies (infliximab, adalimumab, golimumab) and antibody fragment (certolizumab) carry an increased risk compared to the soluble receptor fusion molecule, etanercept. Treatment of latent TB is critical to decrease the risk of reactivation. Data continues to emerge regarding tuberculosis risk associated with novel biologics targeting cytokines involved in tuberculosis control.

Prevention Strategies to Minimize the Infection Risk Associated with Biologic and Targeted Immunomodulators

The introduction of biologic and targeted immunomodulators is a significant breakthrough in the therapeutic area of various fields of medicine. The occurrence of serious infections, a complication of secondary immunosuppression associated with these agents, leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Implementing preventive strategies could minimize infection-related complications and improve therapeutic outcomes. The purpose of this review is to focus on current evident approaches regarding screening, monitoring, preventing (immunization and chemoprophylaxis), and management of infections in patients who are candidates for about 70 biologic and targeted immunomodulators. Recommendations are based on relevant guidelines, especially the ESCMID Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document series published in 2018.

Risk of opportunistic infections in patients treated with alemtuzumab for multiple sclerosis

INTRODUCTION

Alemtuzumab is a monoclonal anti CD-52 antibody recently approved for use in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis(MS). Given that the targeted antigen is primarily expressed on B and T lymphocytes, the administration of this biological drug is associated with rapid but protracted peripheral lymphopenia.

AREAS COVERED

The impact on infective risk of this immune impairment is still to be fully understood. In this review, we attempt to summarize all the available literature concerning opportunistic infections occurring in patients with MS receiving alemtuzumab. Infective adverse events were observed in more than 70% of patients in phase 2/3 RCTs, mainly of mild-to-moderate severity. Nevertheless, several post-marketing reports documented cases of serious, rare, and unexpected infections.

EXPERT OPINION

Predictive risk factors and prognostic features of opportunistic infections in this setting still need to be exactly assessed. At present, the only recommended preventive measures consist in anti-herpetic prophylaxis, Listeria-free diet, Tuberculosis prophylaxis and annual Papillomavirus screening. Given the non-negligible risk of unpredicted infective events, we advise physicians to take into account patients' history of infectious diseases and vaccine status and to consider supplementary prophylactic strategies, including screening for Toxoplasma gondii and viral hepatitis serostatus as well as pre-emptive approaches to avert CMV reactivation and Pneumocystosis.

Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome Occurring in a Kidney Transplant Patient with Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) occurring in solid organ transplantation (SOT) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality usually due to delays in diagnosis, drug toxicity encountered with antimycobacterial therapy, and drug-drug interactions. TB in SOT patients may mimic other infectious and noninfectious posttransplant complications such as posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) and systemic cytomegalovirus infection. Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is a host response resulting in paradoxical worsening of an infectious disease which occurs after the employment of effective therapy and reversal of an immunosuppressed state. We describe the development of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), a unique complication occurring during the treatment of extrapulmonary tuberculosis occurring after transplant which resulted from decreasing immunosuppression in a patient who received Alemtuzumab induction therapy. Although (IRIS) has been originally described in HIV/AIDS patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), solid organ transplant recipients with diagnosed or occult TB whose immune system may undergo immune reconstitution during their posttransplant course represent a new high risk group.

Disseminated Mycobacterium tuberculosis following renal transplant with alemtuzumab induction

Mycobacterium tuberculosis presents unique challenges in the peritransplant period. Here, we describe a case of disseminated tuberculosis following renal transplantation with alemtuzumab induction immunosuppression in a patient with remotely treated pulmonary tuberculosis and ongoing risk factors for re-infection. We also review the available literature regarding the prevalence of tuberculosis infection following solid organ transplant and management of high-risk patients, including the role for isoniazid preventative therapy.

Septic arthritis in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed hosts

Septic arthritis has long been considered an orthopedic emergency. Historically, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Staphylococcus aureus have been the most common causes of septic arthritis worldwide but in the modern era of biological therapy and extensive use of prosthetic joint replacements, the spectrum of microbiological causes of septic arthritis has widened considerably. There are also new approaches to diagnosis but therapy remains a challenge, with a need for careful consideration of a combined medical and surgical approach in most cases.

Differentiation between tuberculosis and leukemia in abdominal and pelvic lymph nodes: evaluation with contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography

PURPOSE

To compare the characteristics of tubercular vs. leukemic involvement of abdominopelvic lymph nodes using multidetector computed tomography (CT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed multidetector computed tomography features including lymph node size, shape, enhancement patterns, and anatomical distribution, in 106 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed, untreated tuberculosis (55 patients; 52%) or leukemia (51 patients; 48%). In patients with leukemia, 32 (62.7%) had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and 19 (37.3%) had acute leukemias; of these, 10 (19.6%) had acute myeloid leukemia, and 9 (17.6%) had acute lymphocytic leukemia.

RESULTS

The lower para-aortic (30.9% for tuberculosis, 63.2% for acute leukemias and 87.5% for chronic lymphocytic leukemia) and inguinal (9.1% for tuberculosis, 57.9% for acute leukemias and 53.1% for chronic lymphocytic leukemia) lymph nodes were involved more frequently in the three types of leukemia than in tuberculosis (both with p <0.017). Tuberculosis showed peripheral enhancement, frequently with a multilocular appearance, in 43 (78.2%) patients, whereas patients with leukemia (78.9% for acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia, 87.5% for chronic lymphocytic leukemia) demonstrated predominantly homogeneous enhancement (both with p <0.017). For the diagnosis of tuberculosis, the analysis showed that a peripheral enhancement pattern had a sensitivity of 78.2%, a specificity of 100%, and an accuracy of 88.7%. For the diagnosis of leukemia, the analysis showed that a homogeneous enhancement pattern was associated with a sensitivity of 84.3%, a specificity of 94.5%, and an accuracy of 89.6%.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that the anatomical distribution and enhancement patterns of lymphadenopathy seen on multidetector computed tomography are useful for differentiating between untreated tuberculosis and leukemia of the abdominopelvic lymph nodes.

How do we manage and treat a patient with multiple sclerosis at risk of tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis continues to be a serious health problem worldwide. The disease continues to be underdiagnosed and not properly treated. In conditions that affect the immune system, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), latent tuberculosis may thrive and reactivate during the use of immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drugs. Among the best treatment options for patients with latent or active tuberculosis who have MS are IFN-β, glatiramer acetate and mitoxantrone. Drugs leading to a reduced number and/or function of lymphocytes should be avoided or used with caution. Tuberculosis must always be investigated in patients with MS and treated with rigor.

Non-bacterial infections in Asian patients treated with alemtuzumab: a retrospective study of the Asian Lymphoma Study Group

This retrospective study concerns non-bacterial infections in Asian patients receiving alemtuzumab. The clinical data of 182 patients treated with alemtuzumab alone or alemtuzumab-containing chemotherapy between the years 2003 and 2009 was collected from six Asian countries. Alemtuzumab was used in the setting of frontline (n =48) or salvage (n =90) treatment, and as a part of the conditioning regimen for allogeneic stem cell transplant (n =44). Reactivation of cytomegalovirus (66/182) and varicella zoster virus (25/182), and fungal infection (31/182) including invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, were the most common infectious complications in this retrospective analysis. Thus, we recommend routine prophylaxis with valganciclovir and itraconazole, especially when alemtuzumab is used in the conditioning regimen for allogeneic stem cell transplant. Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) was found in four patients (3%, 4/122) receiving alemtuzumab as conditioning for stem cell transplant or salvage treatment. Three cases of hepatitis B virus reactivation were found in antigen-negative patients, and 16 cases of tuberculosis were observed. Infection is the major complication of alemtuzumab therapy, and these infectious complications are potentially severe and life-threatening. Based on our retrospective analysis, we have constructed a guideline for antimicrobial prophylaxis in Asian patients receiving alemtuzumab therapy.

Primary eosinophilic disorders: a concise review

Primary eosinophilic disorders include hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES); chronic eosinophilic leukemia, not otherwise categorized (CEL-NOC); platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)-rearranged myeloid neoplasms; and other myeloid malignancies associated with prominent blood eosinophilia. According to the World Health Organization consensus criteria, the diagnosis of HES requires the absence of clonal cytogenetic or molecular markers of an underlying myeloid or lymphoid neoplasm. CEL-NOC constitutes an HES-like phenotype associated with an abnormal karyotype or excess blasts in blood (> 2%) or bone marrow (> 5%). HES and CEL-NOC are considered distinct from molecularly defined eosinophilic disorders, such as those associated with activating mutations of PDGFR (PDGFRA and PDGFRB) and fibroblast growth factor receptor-1. This is an important distinction because PDGFR-mutated but not other eosinophilic neoplasms are effectively treated with imatinib. Current management in HES includes observation only for asymptomatic patients with no evidence of organ damage, systemic corticosteroid therapy for acute control of symptoms, and interferon-alfa-2a or hydroxyurea as steroid-sparing agents. In patients with HES who are refractory to usual therapy and have life-threatening disease complications, the use of investigational drugs such as alemtuzumab or mepolizumab might be considered, but data on long-term efficacy and safety are limited.