Researchers examined two cohorts of patients who received CD19-directed CAR-T cells for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma or B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The researchers used the first cohort to retrospectively examine the impact of prior antibiotic use on CAR-T clinical outcomes. The second cohort had prospective baseline fecal samples collected before CAR-T cell infusion for subsequent assessment of the fecal microbiome. The investigators determined that the use of certain antibiotics including piperacillin/tazobactam, meropenem, and imipenem/cilastatin, negatively affected OS (HR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.12-2.59). The investigators also noted a significantly increased risk of immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome among the entire cohort evaluated for pre-CAR-T antibiotic use (P = 0.023). Stool samples from the prospective cohort demonstrated an altered fecal microbiome including lower alpha diversity, increased frequency of bacterial dominance, and altered bacterial composition compared with healthy controls. The results of this study suggest that the composition of the gut microbiome affects CAR-T outcomes, but the investigators cautioned that further prospective studies in larger patient populations are needed to confirm the associations.
