Antibody incidence and red blood cell transfusions in patients on daratumumab

Daratumumab (Dara), an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody for hematologic malignancies, interferes with routine blood bank testing, specifically affecting the antibody screen and identification panels. In 2016, the AABB recommended performing a baseline phenotype or genotype before a patient (Pt) begins taking anti-CD38 to avoid this interference and potential problems with transfusion. The objective of this study was to assess red blood cell (RBC) utilization and subsequent incidence of alloimmunization to the transfused RBCs in patients receiving Dara.

We monitored 244 patients taking Dara to determine their red blood cell transfusions and incidence of clinically significant antibody formation before and following administration of Dara. Poisson generalized estimating equations with log link were used comparing the post-Dara incidence and prevalence to those prior, with significance defined as p < .05.

From September 1, 2015 to December 22, 2018, 244 patients on Dara were identified, of which 145 patients (59.4%) received a red blood cell transfusion. Antibody screens were performed on 97 of the 145 patients at least 2 weeks following RBC transfusion. Four of the total transfused patients (2.8% total, 4.1% patients with follow-up antibody screen testing) formed new clinically significant alloantibodies, which was not significantly different from Asare's hematologic incidence (p = .98/p = .49).

This study showed our patients on Dara did not form alloantibodies following RBC transfusion at a higher incidence than similar patient populations.