Novel Neurocognitive Testing Tool for Early Neurotoxicity Detection Following Anti-CD19 and Anti-BCMA Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy: A Pilot Study.

Background: Immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) can be a severe, life-threatening toxicity following CAR T-cell therapy. While currently evaluated by the immune effector cell-associated encephalopathy (ICE) score, not all patients have changes in their ICE score and not all signs and symptoms of neurotoxicity are captured.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, single center cohort pilot study to evaluate a novel, rapid neurocognitive assessment tool (CART-NS) in detecting early, subtle neurotoxicity prior to the onset of ICANS and any deterioration in the ICE score. CART-NS includes 8 abbreviated forms of neurocognitive tests and 2 symptom questionnaires. Following baseline measurements, CART-NS was administered at 8-hour intervals during the first 30 days after CAR T-cell infusion.

Results: Performance on all measures was significantly lower when patients developed Grade 1 or 2 ICANS (P < .05). Performance on Oral Symbol Digit, Stroop, and the Paced Visual Serial Addition Test was lower between Day 0 and +3 in patients who developed ICANS and persisted even after clinical resolution. Early changes in the Stroop test (AUC = 0.857, 95% CI 0.628-1.000) were most predictive of ICANS onset when measured during the first 36 hour following CAR T-cell infusion. Significant elevations in CRP, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFNγ, IL-10, IL-15, IL-27, and MIG/CXCL-9 were associated with ICANS development.

Conclusions: Brief neurocognitive testing can be feasibly applied for the early detection of ICANS after CAR T-cell therapy, predict which patients may go on to develop ICANS in the first 30 days, and overcome limitations of the ICE assessment tool.