Poor outcomes of COVID-19 after CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell malignancies

COVID-19 is posing a significant threat to health in vulnerable patients. For hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients it is known that COVID-19 leads to severe morbidity and high mortality as compared to the general population. For patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell malignancies however, outcomes are not yet clear. A multicenter study on behalf of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the European Hematology Association found poor outcomes of COVID-19 after CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell malignancies. The overall survival ratewas 50.8% at 24 weeks.