Life‐Threatening Cytopenias in a Jehovah's Witness Following CD19‐Directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy
Here we report on a Jehovah's Witness (JW) patient who experienced profound and prolonged life-threatening cytopenias following CD19-targeted CAR T cell therapy, successfully managed with bloodless medicine strategies. This case highlights the potential risks of CAR T therapy, even in patients without known hematotoxicity risk factors. By implementing tailored bloodless strategies, the patient received CAR T therapy without significant infectious, cardiac, or bleeding complications. Remarkably, they remain in remission 5 years later with normal blood counts. This underscores the viability of CAR T cell therapy for JW patients, emphasizing the importance of careful patient selection and risk-benefit deliberation. Further research into severe cytopenias post-CAR T therapy is critically needed. <b>Trial Registration</b>: The authors have confirmed clinical trial registration is not needed for this submission.
Authors
- Markus Y. Mapara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8547-8905)
- Ahmed Sawas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2448-0144)
- Christian Gordillo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4829-1954)
- Corinne Shamehdi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1263-829X)
- Rodney Macedo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6252-7703)
- Ran Reshef (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2185-9546)
Institutions
- NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital (US)
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- eJHaem
- Published
- 2025-08-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jha2.70119
- Primary Topic
- CAR-T cell therapy research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00