Nephrotoxicity of CAR-T therapy in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.

OBJECTIVE

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has achieved impressive efficacy in treating relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (R/R MM). Nephrotoxicity after CAR-T cell therapy has rarely been reported.

METHODS

We investigated the occurrence and clinical outcomes of acute kidney injury (AKI) in 111 patients with R/R MM after CAR-T cell therapy.

RESULTS

Thirteen patients (12.1%) developed AKI within 1 month of CAR-T cell therapy, of which 11 had grade 1 AKI, 1 had grade 2, and 1 had grade 3. Eleven (84.6%) cases resolved within 1 month after CAR-T cell therapy. The baseline tumor burden was an independent risk factor for the development of AKI. The finding of a high baseline tumor burden or hyponatremia after CAR-T cell therapy and close monitoring of lactate dehydrogenase, uric acid, interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-10 levels were helpful in predicting the development of AKI. The incidence of cytokine release syndrome and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome were similar between the AKI and non-AKI groups. There was also no significant difference in clinical efficacy between the two groups.

CONCLUSION

AKI is a mild severity and reversible complication. It has no impact on clinical outcomes in R/R MM patients receiving CAR-T cell therapy.