Table 1.
Patients’ baseline characteristics for the entire cohort, and a comparison between patients receiving at least 1 transfusion after CAR T-cell infusion vs no transfusion
| Entire cohort, N = 671 |
No transfusion, n = 293 |
At least 1 transfusion, n = 378 |
P value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Histology | .179 | ||||||
| DLBCL, NOS | 457 | (68.1%) | 188 | (64.2%) | 269 | (71.2%) | |
| PMBL | 27 | (4.0%) | 14 | (4.8%) | 13 | (3.4%) | |
| HGBL | 34 | (5.1%) | 13 | (4.4%) | 21 | (5.6%) | |
| PCNSL | 1 | (0.1%) | 1 | (0.3%) | 0 | (0.0%) | |
| Transformed FL | 90 | (13.4%) | 47 | (16.0%) | 43 | (11.4%) | |
| Others∗ | 62 | (9.2%) | 30 | (10.2%) | 32 | (8.5%) | |
| Age at CAR T-cell infusion, y | |||||||
| Median (range) | 63.0 | (18-82) | 62.0 | (18-82) | 64.0 | (18-80) | .004 |
| >60 | 397 | (59.2%) | 159 | (54.3%) | 238 | (63.0%) | .027 |
| ECOG PS at CAR-T infusion | <.001 | ||||||
| 0-1 | 440 | (81.6%) | 222 | (89.5%) | 218 | (74.9%) | |
| ≥2 | 99 | (18.4%) | 26 | (10.5%) | 73 | (25.1%) | |
| Missing | 132 | 45 | 87 | ||||
| Number of prior lines | |||||||
| Median (range) | 2 | (2 - 10) | 2 | (2 – 9) | 3 | (2-10) | .082 |
| Refractory to first line | 302 | (45.0%) | 119 | (40.6%) | 183 | (48.4%) | .070 |
| Previous HSCT | |||||||
| Autologous | 118 | (17.6%) | 58 | (19.8%) | 60 | (15.9%) | .220 |
| Allogeneic | 8 | (1.2%) | 2 | (0.7%) | 6 | (1.6%) | .476 |
| Chemotherapy within 6 mo before CAR T-cell infusion (excluding bridge) | 503 | (75.0%) | 205 | (70.0%) | 298 | (78.8%) | .009 |
| Chemotherapy within 6 mo before CAR T-cell infusion (including bridge) | 618 | (92.1%) | 262 | (89.4%) | 356 | (94.2%) | .030 |
| HCT-CI score at CAR T-cell infusion | .982 | ||||||
| 1-2 | 237 | (88.8%) | 101 | (89.4%) | 136 | (88.3%) | |
| ≥3 | 30 | (11.2%) | 12 | (10.6%) | 18 | (11.7%) | |
| Missing | 404 | ||||||
| aaIPI at diagnostic | .009 | ||||||
| 0-1 | 230 | (38.1%) | 118 | (44.0%) | 112 | (33.3%) | |
| ≥2 | 374 | (61.9%) | 150 | (56.0%) | 224 | (66.7%) | |
| Missing | 67 | 25 | 42 | ||||
| Bulky disease (>5 cm) at CAR T-cell infusion | 204 | (30.8%) | 71 | (24.5%) | 133 | (35.7%) | .002 |
| Bridging therapy | 555 | (82.7%) | 236 | (80.5%) | 319 | (84.4%) | .217 |
| Type of bridging therapy | |||||||
| Chemotherapy | 469 | (84.5%) | 188 | (79.7%) | 281 | (88.1%) | .009 |
| Radiotherapy | 49 | (8.8%) | 21 | (8.9%) | 28 | (8.8%) | 1.000 |
| Corticosteroids | 49 | (8.8%) | 26 | (11.0%) | 23 | (7.2%) | .131 |
| Monoclonal antibody | 402 | (72.4%) | 167 | (70.8%) | 235 | (73.7%) | .501 |
| Other immunotherapy | 27 | (4.9%) | 9 | (3.8%) | 18 | (5.6%) | .425 |
| IMiD | 38 | (6.8%) | 18 | (7.6%) | 20 | (6.3%) | .611 |
| Other bridge† | 35 | (6.3%) | 14 | (5.9%) | 21 | (6.6%) | .860 |
| Type of CAR T-cell | <.001 | ||||||
| Tisa-cel | 242 | (36.1%) | 130 | (44.4%) | 112 | (29.6%) | |
| Axi-cel | 429 | (63.9%) | 163 | (55.6%) | 266 | (70.4%) | |
| CAR-HEMATOTOX score before lymphodepletion | <.001 | ||||||
| Low (0-1) | 228 | (37.3%) | 130 | (49.6%) | 98 | (28.1%) | |
| High (≥2) | 383 | (62.7%) | 132 | (50.4%) | 251 | (71.9%) | |
| Missing | 60 | 31 | 29 | ||||
| Cytopenia grade ≥3 before lymphodepletion | |||||||
| Anemia | 41 | (6.2%) | 10 | (3.5%) | 31 | (8.3%) | .014 |
| Thrombocytopenia | 41 | (6.2%) | 14 | (4.9%) | 27 | (7.3%) | .256 |
| Neutropenia | 64 | (10.4%) | 25 | (9.1%) | 39 | (11.4%) | .426 |
| Ferritin before lymphodepletion | <.001 | ||||||
| Median (range), μg/L | 555 | (5-27809) | 368 | (11.3-15209) | 804 | (5-27809) | |
| >UNL | 416 | (72.6%) | 151 | (59.4%) | 265 | (83.1%) | |
| Missing | 98 | 39 | 59 | ||||
aaIPI, age-adjusted international prognostic index; DLBCL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; FL, follicular lymphoma; HCT-CI, hematopoietic cell transplant comorbidity index; HGBL, high grade B-cell lymphoma; HSCT, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; IMiD, immunomodulatory drug; NOS, not otherwise specified; PMBL, primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma; PCNSL, primary central nervous system lymphoma; UNL, upper normal limit.
Values in bold signify statistical significance (p<0.05).
Others include: T-cell/histiocyte-rich LBCL (n = 10), 3A-follicular lymphoma (n = 1), transformed marginal-zone lymphoma (n = 19), transformed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (n = 12), transformed Hodgkin (n = 8), DLBCL after PCNSL (n = 3), DLBCL leg type (n = 2), posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (n = 1), and “gray zone” meaning with features between DLBCL and classical Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 6).
Others include: intrathecal chemotherapy (n = 7), ibrutinib (n = 20), lenalidomide (n = 3), oral etoposide (n = 1), and missing (n=4).