Risk factors for non-infectious diarrhea of patients with multiple myeloma after chimeric antigen receptor T- cell immunotherapy: A retrospective observational study

Abstract

Abstract Aims Patients with multiple myeloma after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell immunotherapy suffered from diarrhea. Recurrent diarrhea further conversely decreases nutritional status Methods This study enrolled 88 patients with multiple myeloma who received chimeric antigen receptor T-cell immunotherapy at one tertiary general hospital in China. Participants were categorized into diarrhea subgroup and non-diarrhea subgroup according to the occurrence of diarrhea. Demographic data and self-reported measurements and planning were obtained from questionnaires and clinical data from hospital databases. Results In total, 50 patients suffered from non-infectious diarrhea, with the prevalence of 56.8%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that severe cytokine release syndrome (OR = 5.980), underlying diseases (OR = 4.184), previous treatment lines ≥ 6 (OR = 6.292) were prominent hazardous factors for non-infectious diarrhea (p < 0.05). Conclusions The incidence rate of non-infectious diarrhea in patients with multiple myeloma after CAR-T therapy was at a high level. Severe cytokine release syndrome, previous treatment lines ≥ 6 and the underlying diseases were important predictors for non-infectious diarrhea. Medical staff should early evaluate these major factors to reduce the risk of diarrhea.