A clonally expanded nodal T-cell population diagnosed as T-cell lymphoma after CAR-T therapy

Abstract Reports of secondary malignancies after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T and possible CAR-T derived malignant transformation necessitate caution. Here we describe a patient with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who developed new lymphadenopathy 2.5 years after CAR-T in the context of COVID-19...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Katie Maurer, Jackson A. Weir, Adi Nagler, Nicholas J. Haradhvala, Hariharan Bharadwaj, Jacob Shapiro, Somkene Alakwe, Vipin Kumar, Brianna Waller, Mikaela McDonough, Jamie Dela Cruz, Loida Luna, Emma Lin, Linsey Gong, Qiyu Gong, Mehdi Borji, Phillip D. Michaels, Jacob P. Laubach, Geraldine Pinkus, Gad Getz, Catherine J. Wu, Fei Chen, Caron Jacobson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-08-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62709-7
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Reports of secondary malignancies after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T and possible CAR-T derived malignant transformation necessitate caution. Here we describe a patient with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who developed new lymphadenopathy 2.5 years after CAR-T in the context of COVID-19 infection with histopathologic features consistent with T-cell lymphoma (TCL). Deep molecular interrogation with genomic sequencing and single-cell spatial transcriptomics reveals a highly proliferative clonal T-cell population co-expressing CD4 and CD8 with biallelic TCR rearrangement and no evidence of the CAR construct. The expanded clonotype displayed T follicular helper (TFH) cell transcriptomic programs and occupies immune-excluded spatial niches within the lymph node, supportive of TFH-like neoplastic T cell behavior. Remarkably, the lymphadenopathy spontaneously resolved on interval imaging. Our data underscore the need for better understanding of post-CAR-T clonal T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders to avoid unnecessary treatment and higher specificity in diagnostic methods for TCL.
ISSN:2041-1723