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Mahadeo KM, Baiocchi R, Beitinjaneh A, Chaganti S, Choquet S, Dierickx D, Dinavahi R, Duan X, Gamelin L, Ghobadi A, Guzman-Becerra N, Joshi M, Mehta A, Navarro WH, Nikiforow S, O'Reilly RJ, Reshef R, Ruiz F, Spindler T, Prockop S. Tabelecleucel for allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell or solid organ transplant recipients with Epstein-Barr virus-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease after failure of rituximab or rituximab and chemotherapy (ALLELE): a phase 3, multicentre, open-label trial. Lancet Oncol 2024; 25:376-387. [PMID: 38309282 DOI: 10.1016/s1470-2045(23)00649-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Survival in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease following haematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) or solid organ transplant (SOT) is poor after failure of initial therapy, indicating an urgent need for therapies for this ultra-rare disease. With recent EU marketing authorisation, tabelecleucel is the first off-the-shelf, allogeneic, EBV-specific T-cell immunotherapy to receive approval for treatment of relapsed or refractory EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease. We aimed to determine the clinical benefit of tabelecleucel in patients with relapsed or refractory EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease following HSCT or SOT. METHODS In this global, multicentre, open-label, phase 3 trial, eligible patients (of any age) had biopsy-proven EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, disease that was relapsed or refractory to rituximab after HSCT and rituximab with or without chemotherapy after SOT, and partially HLA-matched and appropriately HLA-restricted tabelecleucel available. Patients received tabelecleucel administered intravenously at 2 × 106 cells per kg on days 1, 8, and 15 in 35-day cycles and are assessed for up to 5 years for survival post-treatment initiation. The primary endpoint was objective response rate. All patients who received at least one dose of tabelecleucel were included in safety and efficacy analyses. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03394365, and is ongoing. FINDINGS From June 27, 2018, to Nov 5, 2021, 63 patients were enrolled, of whom 43 (24 [56%] male and 19 [44%] female) were included, 14 had prior HSCT, 29 had SOT. Seven (50%, 95% CI 23-77) of 14 participants in the HSCT group and 15 (52%, 33-71) of 29 participants in the SOT group had an objective response, with a median follow-up of 14·1 months (IQR 5·7-23·9) and 6·0 months (1·8-18·4), respectively. The most common grade 3 or 4 treatment-emergent adverse events were disease progression (in four [29%] of 14 in HSCT and eight [28%] of 29 in SOT) and decreased neutrophil count (in four [29%] of 14 in HSCT and four [14%] of 29 in SOT). Treatment-emergent serious adverse events were reported in 23 (53%) of 43 patients and fatal treatment-emergent adverse events in five (12%); no fatal treatment-emergent adverse event was treatment-related. There were no reports of tumour flare reaction, cytokine release syndrome, immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome, transmission of infectious diseases, marrow rejection, or infusion reactions. No events of graft-versus-host disease or SOT rejection were reported as related to tabelecleucel. INTERPRETATION Tabelecleucel provides clinical benefit in patients with relapsed or refractory EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, for whom there are no other approved therapies, without evidence of safety concerns seen with other adoptive T-cell therapies. These data represent a potentially transformative and accessible treatment advance for patients with relapsed or refractory disease with few treatment options. FUNDING Atara Biotherapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Robert Baiocchi
- James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Amer Beitinjaneh
- Division of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Sridhar Chaganti
- Centre for Clinical Haematology, University Hospital Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Sylvain Choquet
- Clinical Hematology Unit, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière, APHP, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | | | | | | | | | - Armin Ghobadi
- Division of Oncology, Washington University, St Louis, MO, USA
| | | | | | - Aditi Mehta
- Atara Biotherapeutics, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | | | - Sarah Nikiforow
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Richard J O'Reilly
- Transplant Service, Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ran Reshef
- Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cell Therapy Program, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Fiona Ruiz
- Atara Biotherapeutics, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | | | - Susan Prockop
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital-Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
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Barlev A, Zimmermann H, Guzman-Becerra N, Mehta A, Xing B, Macabeo B, Thivolet M, Brookhart MA. Comparative analysis of tabelecleucel and current treatment in patients with Epstein-Barr virus-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease following hematopoietic cell transplant or solid organ transplant. J Med Econ 2024; 27:789-795. [PMID: 38727527 DOI: 10.1080/13696998.2024.2354150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
AIMS With recent European Union marketing authorization, tabelecleucel is the first off-the-shelf, allogeneic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific T-cell immunotherapy approved for the treatment of relapsed/refractory EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD). In the absence of a control arm, real-world evidence can provide a comparative benchmark for single-arm studies in ultra-rare populations. This study assessed the treatment effect of tabelecleucel in the single-arm phase 3 ALLELE study (NCT03394365) versus a treatment group from a multinational, multicenter retrospective chart review study (RS002) of patients with EBV+ PTLD. METHODS In ALLELE, patients had disease relapsed/refractory to rituximab ± chemotherapy and received tabelecleucel 2x106 cells/kg on days 1, 8, and 15 in 35-day cycles. Patients in RS002 had disease relapsed/refractory to rituximab ± chemotherapy and received next line of systemic therapy between January 2000 and December 2018. Propensity score-based standardized mortality/morbidity ratio weighting was used to achieve balance between treatment and comparator arms. Kaplan-Meier estimators and Cox regression models were used to compare overall survival (OS) in the re-weighted sample. RESULTS 30 patients (n = 14 hematopoietic cell transplant [HCT], n = 16 solid organ transplant [SOT]) from ALLELE (data cutoff: November 2021) and 84 patients (n = 36 HCT, n = 48 SOT) from RS002 (data lock: January 2021) were included. Median time from diagnosis to first tabelecleucel dose (ALLELE) or start date of next line of systemic therapy (RS002) was 3.6 months. Tabelecleucel was associated with a substantial OS benefit compared with current treatment, with an unadjusted HR of 0.47 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-0.88) and adjusted HR of 0.37 (95% CI 0.20-0.71) when using the start date of the next line of therapy as the index date. Sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results. CONCLUSIONS In this study of real-world data, tabelecleucel was associated with an OS benefit among patients with R/R EBV+ PTLD for whom there is high unmet need.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arie Barlev
- Atara Biotherapeutics, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Aditi Mehta
- Atara Biotherapeutics, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
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Storek J, Lindsay J. Rituximab for posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder - therapeutic, preemptive, or prophylactic? Bone Marrow Transplant 2024; 59:6-11. [PMID: 38001229 DOI: 10.1038/s41409-023-02155-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
To minimize mortality due to posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), the following strategies have been used: (1) Therapy without EBV Monitoring, i.e., administration of rituximab after PTLD diagnosis, usually by biopsy, in the absence of routine Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNAemia monitoring, (2) Prompt Therapy, i.e., monitoring EBV DNAemia, searching for PTLD by imaging when the DNAemia has exceeded a pre-specified threshold, and administration of rituximab if the imaging is consistent with PTLD, (3) Preemptive Therapy, i.e., monitoring EBV DNAemia and administration of rituximab when the DNAemia has exceeded a pre-specified threshold, and (4) Prophylaxis, i.e., administration of rituximab to all transplant recipients. The superiority of one of these strategies over the other strategies has not been established. Here we review the pros and cons of each strategy. Preemptive therapy or prophylaxis may currently be preferred for patients who are at a high risk of dying due to PTLD. However, Therapy without EBV Monitoring may be used for both high- and low-risk patients in the future, if effective and relatively non-toxic therapies for rituximab-refractory PTLD (e.g., EBV-specific T cells) have become easily available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Storek
- University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
| | - Julian Lindsay
- Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- National Centre for Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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