CD4⁺ T cells mediate CAR-T cell-associated immune-related adverse events after BCMA CAR-T cell therapy.

Abstract

B cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has revolutionized the treatment of multiple myeloma but can cause unique toxicities, including cranial nerve palsy, parkinsonism and enterocolitis, which we refer to collectively as CAR T cell therapy-associated immune-related adverse events (CirAEs). Among 198 patients treated with ciltacabtagene autoleucel or idecabtagene vicleucel (June 2021-December 2024), 27 (13.6%) developed CirAEs. This included one remarkable case with three distinct CirAEs in association with an extreme CD4⁺ CAR T cell expansion (peak lymphocytes: 197 × 10³ per microliter), which was abrogated in vitro by CCR5 inhibition. CirAEs were associated with significantly higher non-relapse mortality (hazard ratio = 5.2, P = 0.006), and independent risk factors included ciltacabtagene autoleucel (odds ratio = 4.5, P = 0.058), peak absolute lymphocyte count ≥ 2.4 × 10³ per microliter in the first 14 days post-infusion (odds ratio = 4.3, P < 0.001) and apheresis CD4:CD8 ratio > 1 (odds ratio = 2.6, P = 0.048). We identified marked CD4⁺ CAR T cell infiltration in all available CirAE tissues, including cerebrospinal fluid during neurologic CirAEs, implicating CD4⁺ CAR T cell therapy as a key mediator of these toxicities.