Is the risk of cardiac toxicity of CAR-T cell therapy?

Is there any cardiac toxicity after Car-T cell therapy?

Regarding possible cardiac or heart toxicity seen after Car-T cell therapy, they certainly have been observed on occasion. I liken it to, sepsis, which can happen after an infection.

So when the body's secreting these, inflammation molecules called cytokines, it can put a stress on the heart. So what might that look like?

Patients who might be predisposed to having an abnormal heart rhythm, this process may, kind of, promote that to happen.

So most commonly, things like atrial fibrillation or flutter, again, abnormal rhythms of the heart that may need to be managed after Car-T.

Sometimes that inflammation and stress can kind of cause the heart muscle to, weaken or not pump as strong. Something like a stress induced, cardiomyopathy. So that is something we would observe for.

And then on occasion, the inflammation can kind of cause damage to the heart muscle and cause some of the enzymes to be detectable in the blood. That being said, you know, really for patients who develop a higher grade of cytokine release syndrome that just we want to monitor more closely. So we'll monitor their heart rhythm continuously and usually get an ultrasound of the heart to evaluate how strong the heart muscle is pumping.

There, you know, we do our best to make sure that the patient's condition is optimized prior to going to Car-T cell therapy to help try to prevent some of these potential side effects.