Safety and short-term outcomes of lecanemab for Alzheimer's disease in China: a multicentre study

Lecanemab is a newly approved monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid plaques for the treatment of early Alzheimer's disease. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and short-term biomarkers and cognition changes of lecanemab in Chinese clinical practice. This multicenter real-world study involved patients receiving lecanemab treatment across seven hospitals in China. Patients underwent comprehensive assessments before treatment. Lecanemab was administered via intravenous infusion every 2 weeks. Treatment-related symptoms were monitored through self-report, and amyloid-related imaging abnormalities were assessed via magnetic resonance imaging. Amyloid and tau biomarker changes were measured using positron emission tomography imaging or plasma testing. Follow-up cognitive assessments were evaluated after 6 months of treatment. Short-term outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed-effect models, without an untreated control group. A total of 407 patients who received at least one lecanemab infusion were involved in this study, with a mean follow-up time of 5.6±3.39 months. The mean age was 68.08 years, with 67.57% of patients being female. Of the participants, 56.51% were APOE ε4 carriers, and 83.19% were at biological stage C. During the study period, 22.22% of the patients experienced treatment-related symptoms, and 12.15% developed at least one amyloid-related imaging abnormality. Only four symptomatic and seven severe amyloid-related imaging abnormality cases were reported. APOE ε4 status was not related to adverse events in the Chinese population. Patients with a higher number of microhemorrhages at baseline were more likely to develop adverse events. No significant differences in adverse events were observed between the moderate Alzheimer's disease dementia group and the mild cognitive impairment group. By the end of the research period, 9.38% of the patients withdrew from lecanemab. After 6 months of treatment, favourable short-term outcomes in biomarkers and stable cognitive function were observed. This study demonstrates that lecanemab treatment is feasible and well-tolerated among the Chinese population, with lower rates of adverse events and favourable short-term outcomes observed. Administration of lecanemab in moderate AD dementia population was relatively safe and further studies are warranted.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Brain
Published
2025-11-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf427
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.88

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Safety and short-term outcomes of lecanemab for Alzheimer's disease in China: a multicentre study

Shufen Chen, Bin Hu, Zizhao Ju, Xiaoyun Cao et al.
4 citations
Brain
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
5.88
article

Safety and short-term outcomes of lecanemab for Alzheimer's disease in China: a multicentre study

Shufen Chen, Bin Hu, Zizhao Ju, Xiaoyun Cao, Wei Cheng, Mei Cui, Keliang Chen, Chuantao Zuo, Qianhua Zhao, Yu Guo, Hua Hu, Teng Jiang, Qin-yong Ye, Yan Sun, Xiao‐Yu He, Rongze Wang, Lan Tan, Jiawei Xin, Mingyang Yuan, Yuxin Li, Xiaoyan Liu, Ling-Ling Li, Wei Zhang, Ping Liu, Jie Wang, Xiaochun Chen, Wei Xu, Lin Zhu, Guoping Peng, Yuyuan Huang, Zhen Wang
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Lecanemab is a newly approved monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid plaques for the treatment of early Alzheimer's disease. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and short-term biomarkers and cognition changes of lecanemab in Chinese clinical practice. This multicenter real-world study involved patients receiving lecanemab treatment across seven hospitals in China. Patients underwent comprehensive assessments before treatment. Lecanemab was administered via intravenous infusion every 2 weeks. Treatment-related symptoms were monitored through self-report, and amyloid-related imaging abnormalities were assessed via magnetic resonance imaging. Amyloid and tau biomarker changes were measured using positron emission tomography imaging or plasma testing. Follow-up cognitive assessments were evaluated after 6 months of treatment. Short-term outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed-effect models, without an untreated control group. A total of 407 patients who received at least one lecanemab infusion were involved in this study, with a mean follow-up time of 5.6±3.39 months. The mean age was 68.08 years, with 67.57% of patients being female. Of the participants, 56.51% were APOE ε4 carriers, and 83.19% were at biological stage C. During the study period, 22.22% of the patients experienced treatment-related symptoms, and 12.15% developed at least one amyloid-related imaging abnormality. Only four symptomatic and seven severe amyloid-related imaging abnormality cases were reported. APOE ε4 status was not related to adverse events in the Chinese population. Patients with a higher number of microhemorrhages at baseline were more likely to develop adverse events. No significant differences in adverse events were observed between the moderate Alzheimer's disease dementia group and the mild cognitive impairment group. By the end of the research period, 9.38% of the patients withdrew from lecanemab. After 6 months of treatment, favourable short-term outcomes in biomarkers and stable cognitive function were observed. This study demonstrates that lecanemab treatment is feasible and well-tolerated among the Chinese population, with lower rates of adverse events and favourable short-term outcomes observed. Administration of lecanemab in moderate AD dementia population was relatively safe and further studies are warranted.

Brain
Qingdao University (CN), Hebei Medical University (CN), Fujian Medical University (CN), Soochow University (TW), Fudan University (CN), Wenzhou Medical University (CN), First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (CN), Soochow University (CN), Shanghai Institute for Science of Science (CN), Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University (CN), Qingdao Municipal Hospital (CN), Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University (CN), Huashan Hospital (CN), Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Technology (CN), First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University (CN), State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Nanjing Medical University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
5.88
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.