Objectives: To assess the humoral immune response to the BNT162b2 vaccine after allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Methods: This is a prospective cohort study. The SARS-CoV-2 IgGII Quant (Abbott©) assay was performed 4e6 weeks after the second BNT162b2 vaccine for quantitative measurement of anti-spike antibodies. Results: The cohort included 106 adult patients. Median time from HCT to vaccination was 42 (range 4 e439) months. Overall, 15/106 (14%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7e21%) were seronegative despite vaccination, 14/52 patients on immunosuppression (27%, 95%CI 19e35%) compared to only 1/54 patients off immunosuppression (1.8%, 95%CI 1e4%) (p 0.0002). The proportion of seronegative patients declined with time; it was 46% (6/13) during the first year, 12.5% (3/24) during the second year and 9% (6/69) beyond 2 years from transplant. Patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (odds ratio (OR) 3.3, 95%CI 0.97e11.1, p 0.06) and moderate to severe chronic GVHD (OR 5.9, 95%CI 1.2e29, p 0.03) were more likely to remain seronegative. Vaccination was well tolerated by most patients. However, 7% (7/106) reported that GVHD-related symptoms worsened within days following vaccination. Conclusion: A significant proportion of allogeneic HCT recipients receiving immunosuppression demonstrated an inadequate humoral response to the BNT162b2 vaccine. These patients should be recognized and instructed to take appropriate precautions. Recipients who were off immunosuppression had a humoral response that was comparable to that of the general population.
Objectives: Compared with the general population, patients after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) are at higher risk to develop severe disease or die from COVID-19. Immunosuppressive therapy and graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) may abrogate the ability of transplanted patients to mount an adequate immune response to vaccines. We assessed the immune response of patients after allogeneic HCT to the BNT162b2 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) and identified patient and treatment-related factors that predict humoral response in this population. Methods: We conducted an observational prospective cohort study at Rabin Medical Center, Israel. Adult patients after allogeneic HCT were eligible if they had no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and received the 2-dose BNT162b2 vaccine. The SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant (Abbott©,) assay was performed 4-6 weeks after the second vaccine for quantitative measurement of IgG antibodies to spike protein (S-IgG) of SARS-CoV-2. The assay result was considered positive if S-IgG level was ≥50 AU/ml. We used the likelihood ratio of the ROC curves to define the optimal cut-off for continuous variables, χ2 to compare variables on categorical scale and Mann-Whitney to compare medians. To predict seronegativity, we applied logistic regression with the exp(β) as an estimator of hazard-ratio (HR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) around it. To predict S-IgG levels, we used linear regression. Results: Our cohort included 106 patients. Median age was 65 (range: 23-80) years and 59% were males. Median time from transplant to vaccination was 42 (range: 4-439) months. At time of vaccination, 49% of patients were receiving immunosuppression, while 51% were not. Overall, 14% (15/106) tested negative for S-IgG after vaccination, 27% (14/52) of patients on immunosuppression compared with only 1.8% (1/54) of patients off immunosuppression (p=0.0002). Based on ROC analysis we divided the cohort into patients who were transplanted within (57%) vs. beyond (43%) 4.5y (AUC 0.77, CI: 0.66-0.88). With this cut-off, the sensitivity was 0.93. In univariate analysis, patients vaccinated within 4.5y of HCT (HR: 13.7, 95% CI 1.8-108.5, p=0.013), or still receiving immunosuppression (HR: 9.8, 95% CI 2.1-44.7, p=0.004) and patients with moderate to severe chronic GVHD (HR: 5.9, 95% CI 1.2-29, p=0.03) were more likely to remain seronegative. Age, gender, type of disease and absolute-lymphocyte-count did not predict seronegativity. In MVA, only time, i.e. <4.5y from HCT remained predictive (HR: 10.8, 95% CI 1.2-93.2, p=0.03) (Table 2). Since 93% (14/15) of seronegative patients were transplanted <4.5y, we performed a subgroup analysis of the 57% (60/106) of patients that were transplanted within this time frame. Among these, patients receiving immunosuppression (65%, 39/60) were more likely to remain seronegative (HR: 10, 95% CI: 1.1-93, p=0.03); 36% (14/39) of patients on immunosuppression remained seronegative compared with none of the patients off immunosuppression (p=0.002). Among the 43% (46/106) of patients who were vaccinated >4.5y after HCT, 33% (15/46) were still receiving immunosuppression. Yet only 6.6% (1/15) in this subgroup tested negative. Titer levels in seropositive patients ranged between 60 and 80,000 AU/ml (median: 5319). Only a small fraction of this variance is explained by variables tested in this study. Older age (r 2=0.04, p=0.04), shorter time from transplantation (r 2=0.03, p=0.09), the use of corticosteroids (r 2=0.03, p=0.07) or calcineurin inhibitors (r 2=0.06, p=0.013) predicted lower S-IgG levels. The vaccine was well tolerated by most patients. No new cases of GVHD have been reported following vaccination. However, seven patients with chronic GVHD (mild=2; moderate=1; severe=4) reported that GVHD -related symptoms worsened within days following the first, second or both vaccines. Notably, one patient with chronic GVHD developed grade 4 steroid-refractory immune thrombocytopenia 2 weeks after the first vaccine. Conclusion: Overall, 14% of allogeneic HCT recipients had an inadequate antibody response to the BNT162b2 vaccine. It was only 6.5% among patients off immunosuppression and patients vaccinated >4.5y after HCT. However, inadequate antibody response rate was 36% among recipients vaccinated <4.5y from HCT who were still receiving immunosuppression. These patients should be recognised and instructed to take appropriate precautions. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Yeshurun: Astellas: Consultancy; Jannsen: Consultancy. Wolach: Janssen: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Astellas: Consultancy; Amgen: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Neopharm: Consultancy.
The use of methotrexate (MTX) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis is associated with increased rates of organ-specific toxicities. Despite limited data, the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation-European LeukemiaNet working group recommend the use of folinic acid (FA) rescue to reduce MTX toxicity after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). In a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, we explored whether FA rescue reduces MTX-induced toxicity. We enrolled patients undergoing allo-HCT with myeloablative conditioning with peripheral blood stem cell grafts, with GVHD prophylaxis consisting of cyclosporine and MTX. Patients were randomized to receive FA or placebo starting 24 hours after each MTX dose and continuing over 24 hours in 3 to 4 divided doses. The primary end point was the rate of grades 3 and 4 oral mucositis. After enrollment of 52 patients (FA, n = 28; placebo, n = 24), preplanned interim analysis revealed similar rates of grade 3 and 4 (46.6% vs 45.8%; P = .97) and grades 1 to 4 (83.3% vs 77.8%; P = .65) oral mucositis. With a median follow-up of 17 (range, 4.5-50) months, there was no difference in the rates of acute and chronic GVHD, disease relapse, nonrelapse mortality, and overall survival. These interim results did not support continuation of the study. We conclude that FA rescue after MTX GVHD prophylaxis does not decrease regimen-related toxicity or affect transplantation outcomes. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02506231.
A double-blind 4-week trial of sodium oxyferriscorbone versus placebo (distilled water) was conducted in 46 outpatients with endoscopically confirmed gastric ulcer. Ulcer healing occurred in 15 of 20 patients receiving sodium oxyferriscorbone (75%) and in 7 of 20 patients receiving placebo (35%). Patients receiving sodium oxyferriscorbone experienced less pain and required less antacid than those receiving placebo (P less than 0.05). Side effects were reported in 12 patients, 7 while receiving sodium oxyferriscorbone and 5 while receiving placebo. Six patients did not complete the study due to ulcer complications. Routine laboratory tests revealed no persistent abnormalities that could be related to the treatment. Five placebo-treated patients that were therapeutic failures were switched to sodium oxyferriscorbone and healing was observed within 3 weeks. It is concluded that sodium oxyferriscorbone is effective in enhancing healing of gastric ulcers.
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