Dynamics of polyclonal immuno-reconstitution after allogeneic transplant with post-transplant cyclophosphamide and letermovir

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivations are strong stimulators of immune-reconstitution (IR) in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. Herein, we analyzed 317 CMV-seropositive consecutive patients (n = 109 letermovir, LTV; n = 208 no-LTV), undergoing HSCT with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) and calcineurin inhibitor- (CNI) free graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) prophylaxis. At day+90, median CD19⁺/mm³ was higher in LTV-cohort: 5.5 [0;439] versus 2 [0;294], p = 0.008; median CD3+/mm³ counts were lower in LTV-cohort, with no differences in CD4⁺, CD8⁺ and NK-cells. At day+180 median CD3⁺, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺/mm³ values were comparable between groups. Higher CD19⁺/mm³ counts were observed in LTV-cohort: 62 [0; 2983] versus 42 [0; 863]. Significantly higher median NK/mm³ values were seen in LTV-cohort: 225.5 [0;763] versus 163.5 [0;1181], p = 0.0003. The impact of LTV on B-cell IR at 3 months and NK-cell levels at 6 months was retained in multivariate analysis (p < 0.01), whereas the effect on T-cells was not confirmed. Moreover, we confirmed a significant reduction of clinically-relevant CMV, and moderate-to- severe chronic GvHD in LTV-cohort. Overall, in our study the use of LTV was associated with a slight improvement of B-cell and NK-cells reconstitution, with only minor impact on T-cell subsets, giving new insights on polyclonal IR for HSCT recipients in the LTV era.