Volume 39, Issue 7 e70242
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Impact on Transplant Outcomes of Cytokine Release Syndrome After Infusion of Haploidentical Stem Cells With Anti-Thymocyte Globulin

Feng-Mei Zheng

Feng-Mei Zheng

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Jun Kong

Jun Kong

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Jing-Zhi Wang

Jing-Zhi Wang

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Zhi-Dong Wang

Zhi-Dong Wang

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Feng-Rong Wang

Feng-Rong Wang

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Ting-Ting Han

Ting-Ting Han

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Hai-Xia Fu

Hai-Xia Fu

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Wei Han

Wei Han

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Yuan-Yuan Zhang

Yuan-Yuan Zhang

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Chen-Hua Yan

Chen-Hua Yan

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Huan Chen

Huan Chen

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Yao Chen

Yao Chen

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Yu-Hong Chen

Yu-Hong Chen

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Xiao-Dong Mo

Xiao-Dong Mo

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Meng Lv

Meng Lv

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Yu-Qian Sun

Yu-Qian Sun

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Yi-Fei Cheng

Yi-Fei Cheng

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Lan-Ping Xu

Lan-Ping Xu

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Xiao-Hui Zhang

Xiao-Hui Zhang

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Kai-Yan Liu

Kai-Yan Liu

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Xiao-Jun Huang

Xiao-Jun Huang

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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Yu Wang

Corresponding Author

Yu Wang

Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Institute of Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies, Peking University, Beijing, China

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First published: 21 July 2025

Funding: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2023YFC2508905; 2022YFA1103300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82470214; 82270227; 82070189), the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81930004), the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82293630), and Peking University Medicine Fund for World's Leading Discipline or Discipline Cluster Development (No. 71003Y3035).

ABSTRACT

Background

Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) after graft infusion under anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG)–based haploidentical (haplo)-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is unclear.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical implications of CRS after graft infusion under ATG-based haplo-SCT.

Study Design

We retrospectively analyzed the data of 259 patients who underwent haplo-SCT, graded CRS, and evaluated transplant outcomes.

Results

CRS occurred in 103/259 (39.8%) of the recipients. Severe CRS (Grades 3–5) was not observed. Fever was the most common manifestation (89.3%), and all cases occurred only after peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) infusion. According to the multivariable analysis, being older than 55 years (OR 2.486 (1.124–5.496), p = 0.024), having higher CRP levels during conditioning (OR 3.011 (95% CI, 1.766–5.134), p < 0.001), and receiving PBSC as the sole stem cell source (OR 2.478 (95% CI, 1.077–5.700), p = 0.033) could predict the development of CRS, whereas an HCT-CI score ≥ 2 was an independent risk factor for Grade 2 CRS (OR 4.259 (95% CI, 1.515–11.969, p = 0.006)). The 3-year OS was not significantly different between the two groups, with 79% (95% CI, 61–97) for Grade 2 CRS and 85% (95% CI, 80–90) for Grade 0–1 CRS (p = 0.288). The GRFS rates in the two groups were 69% (95% CI, 49–90) and 67% (95% CI, 60–74), respectively (p = 0.644).

Conclusion

Our results suggest that CRS is common in patients receiving ATG-based haplo-SCT and does not affect survival.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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