Abstract
Background: Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) has revolutionized the treatment landscape of hematological cancers, including B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), multiple myeloma (MM), and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, the cardiac toxicity profile of this therapy is not well described in the literature. The majority of patients receiving CAR-T are older adults who may have pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors, received prior cardiotoxic therapy including anthracycline, alkylators, corticosteroids, proteosome inhibitors, radiation, autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants. Due to a stricter patient selection for CAR-T clinical trials, cardiac adverse events (AEs) are infrequent. As the survival of patients with hematological malignancies continues to improve with advancements in therapy, it becomes critical to consider the cumulative cardiotoxic effects of these therapies. Therefore, a post-marketing pharmacovigilance analysis of the cardiac AEs reported to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) for each CAR-T product was conducted to address this knowledge gap.
Methods: All individual case safety reports of cardiac AEs listing any of the approved CAR-T therapies [Tisagenlecleucel (Tisa-cel), Axicabtagene ciloleucel (Axi-cel), Lisocabtagene maraleucel (Liso-cel), Brexucabtagene autoleucel (Brexu-cel), Idecabtagene vicleucel (Ide-cel), Ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Cilta-cel) and Obecabtagene autoleucel (Obe-cel)] as the suspected drug were identified from the FAERS database. Patient characteristics, including primary malignancy, age, sex, CAR-T product and AEs were described. Disproportionality analysis was performed using Reported Odds Ratio (ROR) to determine significant associations between CAR-T products and cardiac AEs.
Results: There were 1362 cardiac AEs after CAR-T therapy reported in the FAERS database(602 with Axi-cel, 444 with Tisa-cel, 77 with Cilta-cel, 81 with Ide-cel, 128 with Brexu-cel, 30 with Liso-cel and 0 with Obe-cel).Of these, 57% were males, 8.6% occurred in patients <18 yrs, 35.4% in 18–64 yrs, and 32% in >65 yrs. There were 778 reports of arrythmias, 158 heart failures, 184 cardiac arrests, 43 pericardial AEs, 16 valvular AEs, 59 ischemic AEs, 10 cardiogenic shock, 8 myocarditis, and 106 other cardiac disorders (cardiac thrombus, cardiomegaly, cardiac rupture, orthostatic hypotension, hypertensive emergency/crisis etc.).
In the entire cohort, males were more likely to develop pericardial (ROR=3.55, p=0.004) and valvular disorders (ROR=9.13, p=0.03), with females developing heart failure (ROR=1.61, p=0.005). Patients <18 years had a higher incidence of pericardial (ROR=3.44, p=0.006) and valvular disease (ROR=12.79, p<0.0001), while adults aged >65 had higher propensity of developing atrial tachyarrhythmias (ROR=2.74, p<0.0001), ventricular arrhythmias (ROR=3.04, p=0.001) and cardiogenic shock (ROR=8.38, p=0.05), and a trend towards higher risk of developing acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (ROR=1.79, p=0.06).
For ischemic cardiac AEs, Brexu-cel was associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction (ROR=2.34, p=0.04), and Ide-cel was associated with elevated troponin levels (ROR=6.23, p=0.002). For functional cardiac AEs, Tisa-cel was associated with cardiac arrest (ROR=1.68, p=0.001), pericardial disorders (effusion, tamponade and pericarditis) (ROR=3.56, p<0.001), valvular disorders (ROR=55.97, p<0.0001), myocarditis (ROR=6.2, p=0.012) and heart failure (ROR=2.24, p<0.001). B-ALL was associated with higher odds of cardiac arrest (ROR=1.63, p=0.018). For conduction-related cardiac AEs, Brexu-cel had higher rates of brady-arrythmias (ROR=1.86, p=0.04), Cilta-cel had increased incidence of atrioventricular block (ROR=7.87, p=0.02), and tachy-arrhythmias (ROR=1.71, p=0.0001). Tisa-cel was associated with increased risk of any arrhythmias (ROR=1.68, p<0.001). Axi-cel was associated with higher odds of developing orthostatic hypotension (ROR=2.57, p=0.019).
Conclusion: This post-marketing pharmacovigilance analysis highlights patterns of cardiac AEs following CAR-T therapy. Trends in AEs based on CAR-T product, age, and sex support the ongoing need for vigilance for these unique toxicities. As this study is limited by FAERS reporting bias, prospective studies to validate these associations and elucidate the underlying mechanisms are needed, incorporating prior systemic therapies and baseline characteristics of patients undergoing CAR-T therapy.
