Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of CD19-Specific CAR-T Cell Therapy in Relapsed/Refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in the Pediatric and Young Adult Population: Safety and Efficacy Outcomes

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) typically responds better when treated with multiagent chemotherapy in the pediatric and young adolescent populations. Treatment of relapsed/refractory (RR) ALL remains a challenge. Even after stem-cell transplantation and intensive chemotherapy, the prognosis of RR-ALL remains grave. The advent of chimeric antigen receptors has demonstrated promising results in RR-ALL. Chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells (CAR-T) and engineered T cells are used to target cancer cells. In 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration approved CD19-specific CAR-T (tisagenlecleucel) therapy for RR-B-cell ALL in patients under 25 years old. In this systematic review, we discuss the efficacy and safety of CD19-specific CAR-T therapy in RR-B-cell ALL in the pediatric and young adult population. We searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and clinical trials databases. A total of 448 patients received a CD19-specific CAR-T product, and 446 patients had evaluable data. The age range was 0 to 30 years. The incidence rate of complete remission was 82%. The cumulative incidence of relapse after CD19-specific CAR-T therapy is 36%. Similarly, the incidence rate of grade 3 or higher adverse events of neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, neurotoxicity, infections, and cytokine release syndrome were 38%, 23%, 18%, 29%, and 19%, respectively. Our subgroup analysis shows the incidence rate of minimal residual negative complete remission was 69% with the CD28z costimulatory domain, 81% with the 4-1BB domain, and 77% with fourth-generation CD19-specific CAR-T therapy.