Real-world adverse events associated with CAR T-cell therapy among adults age ≥ 65 years

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has emerged as a promising treatment for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) and tisagenlecleucel (tis-cel). Although the incidence of LBCL is highest among patients age ≥ 65, clinical trials supporting approval of these 2 products primarily enrolled younger patients. Safety data for axi-cel and tis-cel in older patients is limited.

In this analysis, we queried the FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) database for cases associated with axi-cel or tis-cel from the FDA approval dates for the LBCL indication for each product through December 31, 2019, and compared adverse events (AEs) reported for cases involving patients aged <65 and ≥ 65.

A total of 804 cases were retrieved, with 333 (41%) involving patients age ≥ 65. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) was the most common AE reported in both age groups. Cases involving older patients had a significantly higher proportion of neurological AEs, including CAR T-cell-related encephalopathy syndrome (8% vs. 4%, p = 0.03). Some individual clinical features of CRS were significantly more common among younger age group cases, including pyrexia (33% vs. 23%, p < 0.01), tachycardia (10% vs. 5%, p < 0.01), and thrombocytopenia (4% vs. 2%, p = 0.03).

In this age-based analysis of FAERS reports for patients treated with axi-cel or tis-cel, we identified differences in patterns of AEs experienced. This large-scale post-marketing study complements clinical trial safety data and may help inform clinicians' decision making when treating adult patients with CAR-T cell therapy.