Adoptive therapy with cytomegalovirus‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes for refractory cytomegalovirus DNAemia and disease after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Summary Cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNAemia and disease are common complications in patients undergoing allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo‐HSCT). Few studies have compared the efficacy and safety of the HSCT donor and third‐party CMV‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CMV‐CTLs) in the treatment of CMV DNAemia and disease. In this study, we retrospectively compared the efficacy and safety of HSCT donor and third‐party CMV‐CTLs in patients with refractory CMV DNAemia or disease after allo‐HSCT at our centre from January 2017 to September 2021. Fifty‐three patients who received CMV‐CTL therapy were enrolled, including 40 in the donor group and 13 in the third‐party group, and they were adults aged 18 years or older. Within 6 weeks of treatment, 26 (65.0%) and 9 (69.2%) patients achieved complete response in the donor and third‐party groups ( p = 1.000). The 2‐year overall survival was 59.6% (95% CI 46.1%–77.1%) and 53.8% (32.6%–89.1%) in the donor and third‐party groups ( p = 0.860). Four (10.0%) patients in the donor group and two (15.4%) patients in the third‐party group developed acute graft‐versus‐host disease within 3 months after CMV‐CTL infusions. In conclusion, our data suggest that donor and third‐party CMV‐CTLs have comparable efficacy and safety for refractory CMV DNAemia and disease.