Long-Term Cognitive Impairment After CAR-T Therapy Versus Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Data Source
2.2. Patient Identification
2.3. Eligibility Criteria
2.4. Outcomes
2.5. Propensity Score Matching
2.6. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Baseline Characteristics
3.2. Primary Outcome: Cognitive Impairment
3.3. Time-Based Analyses
3.4. Sensitivity Analyses
3.5. Secondary Outcomes
3.6. Subgroup Analysis
3.7. Negative Control Analysis
4. Discussion
Limitations
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- June, C.H.; O’Connor, R.S.; Kawalekar, O.U.; Ghassemi, S.; Milone, M.C. CAR T cell immunotherapy for human cancer. Science 2018, 359, 1361–1365. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Munshi, N.C.; Anderson, L.D., Jr.; Shah, N.; Madduri, D.; Berdeja, J.; Lonial, S.; Raje, N.; Lin, Y.; Siegel, D.; Oriol, A.; et al. Idecabtagene vicleucel in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. N. Engl. J. Med. 2021, 384, 705–716. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Locke, F.L.; Miklos, D.B.; Jacobson, C.A.; Perales, M.A.; Kersten, M.J.; Oluwole, O.O.; Ghobadi, A.; Rapoport, A.P.; McGuirk, J.; Pagel, J.M.; et al. Axicabtagene ciloleucel as second-line therapy for large B-cell lymphoma. N. Engl. J. Med. 2022, 386, 640–654. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Westin, J.R.; Oluwole, O.O.; Kersten, M.J.; Miklos, D.B.; Perales, M.A.; Ghobadi, A.; Rapoport, A.P.; Sureda, A.; Jacobson, C.A.; Farooq, U.; et al. Survival with axicabtagene ciloleucel in large B-cell lymphoma. N. Engl. J. Med. 2023, 389, 148–157. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kamdar, M.; Solomon, S.R.; Arnason, J.; Johnston, P.B.; Glass, B.; Bachanova, V.; Ibrahimi, S.; Mielke, S.; Mutsaers, P.; Hernandez-Ilizaliturri, F.; et al. Lisocabtagene maraleucel versus standard of care with salvage chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation as second-line treatment in patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (TRANSFORM): Results from an interim analysis of an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet 2022, 399, 2294–2308. [Google Scholar]
- Lee, D.W.; Santomasso, B.D.; Locke, F.L.; Ghobadi, A.; Turtle, C.J.; Brudno, J.N.; Maus, M.V.; Park, J.H.; Mead, E.; Pavletic, S.; et al. ASTCT consensus grading for cytokine release syndrome and neurologic toxicity associated with immune effector cells. Biol. Blood Marrow Transplant. 2019, 25, 625–638. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Santomasso, B.D.; Park, J.H.; Salloum, D.; Riviere, I.; Flynn, J.; Mead, E.; Halton, E.; Wang, X.; Senechal, B.; Purdon, T.; et al. Clinical and biological correlates of neurotoxicity associated with CAR T-cell therapy in patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer Discov. 2018, 8, 958–971. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Gust, J.; Hay, K.A.; Hanafi, L.A.; Li, D.; Myerson, D.; Gonzalez-Cuyar, L.F.; Yeung, C.; Liles, W.C.; Wurfel, M.; Lopez, J.A.; et al. Endothelial activation and blood-brain barrier disruption in neurotoxicity after adoptive immunotherapy with CD19 CAR-T cells. Cancer Discov. 2017, 7, 1404–1419. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ruark, J.; Mullane, E.; Cleary, N.; Cordeiro, A.; Bezerra, E.D.; Wu, V.; Voutsinas, J.; Shaw, B.E.; Flynn, K.E.; Lee, S.J.; et al. Patient-reported neuropsychiatric outcomes of long-term survivors after chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy. Biol. Blood Marrow Transplant. 2020, 26, 34–43. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Karschnia, P.; Jordan, J.T.; Forst, D.A.; Arrillaga-Romany, I.C.; Batchelor, T.T.; Baehring, J.M.; Clement, N.F.; Gonzalez Castro, L.N.; Herlopian, A.; Maus, M.V.; et al. Clinical presentation, management, and biomarkers of neurotoxicity after adoptive immunotherapy with CAR T cells. Blood 2019, 133, 2212–2221. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sharafeldin, N.; Bosworth, A.; Patel, S.K.; Chen, Y.; Morse, E.; Mather, M.; Sun, C.L.; Francisco, L.; Forman, S.J.; Wong, F.L.; et al. Cognitive functioning after hematopoietic cell transplantation for hematologic malignancy: Results from a prospective longitudinal study. J. Clin Oncol. 2018, 36, 463–475. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kelly, D.L.; Buchbinder, D.; Duarte, R.F.; Auletta, J.J.; Bhatt, N.; Byrne, M.; DeFilipp, Z.; Gabriel, M.; Mahindra, A.; Norkin, M.; et al. Neurocognitive Dysfunction in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients: Expert Review from the Late Effects and Quality of Life Working Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research and Complications and Quality of Life Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Biol. Blood Marrow Transplant. 2018, 24, 228–241. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- TriNetX. TriNetX Research Network. Available online: https://trinetx.com (accessed on 1 April 2025).
- von Elm, E.; Altman, D.G.; Egger, M.; Pocock, S.J.; Gøtzsche, P.C.; Vandenbroucke, J.P. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: Guidelines for reporting observational studies. Lancet 2007, 370, 1453–1457. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Benchimol, E.I.; Smeeth, L.; Guttmann, A.; Harron, K.; Moher, D.; Petersen, I.; Sørensen, H.T.; von Elm, E.; Langan, S.M.; RECORD Working Committee. The REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely-collected health Data (RECORD) statement. PLoS Med. 2015, 12, e1001885. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Suissa, S. Immortal time bias in pharmaco-epidemiology. Am. J. Epidemiol. 2008, 167, 492–499. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Uno, H.; Claggett, B.; Tian, L.; Inoue, E.; Gallo, P.; Miyata, T.; Schrag, D.; Takeuchi, M.; Uyama, Y.; Zhao, L.; et al. Moving beyond the hazard ratio in quantifying the between-group difference in survival analysis. J. Clin. Oncol. 2014, 32, 2380–2385. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Royston, P.; Parmar, M.K.B. Restricted mean survival time: An alternative to the hazard ratio for the design and analysis of randomized trials with a time-to-event outcome. BMC Med. Res. Methodol. 2013, 13, 152. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhao, L.; Claggett, B.; Tian, L.; Uno, H.; Pfeffer, M.A.; Solomon, S.D.; Trippa, L.; Wei, L.J. On the restricted mean survival time curve in survival analysis. Biometrics 2016, 72, 215–221. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Guyot, P.; Ades, A.E.; Ouwens, M.J.N.M.; Welton, N.J. Enhanced secondary analysis of survival data: Reconstructing the data from published Kaplan-Meier survival curves. BMC Med. Res. Methodol. 2012, 12, 9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mi, X.; Hammill, B.G.; Curtis, L.H.; Lai, E.C.; Setoguchi, S. Use of the landmark method to address immortal person-time bias in comparative effectiveness research: A simulation study. Stat. Med. 2016, 35, 4824–4836. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hernán, M.A.; Sauer, B.C.; Hernández-Díaz, S.; Platt, R.; Shrier, I. Specifying a target trial prevents immortal time bias and other self-inflicted injuries in observational analyses. J. Clin. Epidemiol. 2016, 79, 70–75. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
- VanderWeele, T.J.; Ding, P. Sensitivity Analysis in Observational Research: Introducing the E-Value. Ann. Intern. Med. 2017, 167, 268–274. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Mathur, M.B.; Ding, P.; Riddell, C.A.; VanderWeele, T.J. Web Site and R Package for Computing E-values. Epidemiology 2018, 29, e45–e47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Shimabukuro-Vornhagen, A.; Gödel, P.; Subklewe, M.; Stemmler, H.J.; Schlößer, H.A.; Schlaak, M.; Kochanek, M.; Böll, B.; von Bergwelt-Baildon, M.S. Cytokine release syndrome. J. Immunother. Cancer 2018, 6, 56. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Geraghty, A.C.; Acosta-Alvarez, L.; Rotiroti, M.C.; Dutton, S.; O’Dea, M.R.; Kim, W.; Trivedi, V.; Ravi, K.; Mancusi, R.; Ni, L.; et al. Immunotherapy-related cognitive impairment after CAR T cell therapy in mice. Cell 2025, 188, 3238–3258.e25. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cohen, A.D.; Parekh, S.; Santomasso, B.D.; Gallego Perez-Larraya, J.; van de Donk, N.W.C.J.; Arnulf, B.; Mateos, M.V.; Lendvai, N.; Jackson, C.C.; De Braganca, K.C.; et al. Incidence and management of CAR-T neurotoxicity in patients with multiple myeloma treated with ciltacabtagene autoleucel in CARTITUDE studies. Blood Cancer J. 2022, 12, 32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Abramson, J.S.; Solomon, S.R.; Arnason, J.; Johnston, P.B.; Glass, B.; Bachanova, V.; Ibrahimi, S.; Mielke, S.; Mutsaers, P.; Hernandez-Ilizaliturri, F.; et al. Lisocabtagene maraleucel as second-line therapy for large B-cell lymphoma: Primary analysis of the phase 3 TRANSFORM study. Blood 2023, 141, 1675–1684. [Google Scholar]
- Cordeiro, A.; Bezerra, E.D.; Hirayama, A.V.; Yeung, C.C.S.; Wu, V.; Voutsinas, J.; Liu, Q.; Acharya, U.H.; Pender, B.S.; Hawkins, R.M.; et al. Late Events after Treatment with CD19-Targeted Chimeric Antigen Receptor Modified T Cells. Biol. Blood Marrow Transplant. 2020, 26, 26–33. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wilkinson, T.; Ly, A.; Schnier, C.; Rannikmäe, K.; Bush, K.; Brayne, C.; Quinn, T.J.; Sudlow, C.L.M.; UK Biobank Neurodegenerative Outcomes Group; Dementias Platform UK. Identifying dementia cases with routinely collected health data: A systematic review. Alzheimer’s Dement. 2018, 14, 1038–1051. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sterner, R.M.; Sakemura, R.; Cox, M.J.; Yang, N.; Khadka, R.H.; Forsman, C.L.; Hansen, M.J.; Jin, F.; Ayasoufi, K.; Hefazi, M.; et al. GM-CSF inhibition reduces cytokine release syndrome and neuroinflammation but enhances CAR-T cell function in xenografts. Blood 2019, 133, 697–709. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]




| Characteristic | Before PSM | After PSM | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAR-T (n = 3096) | ASCT (n = 34,734) | p | SMD | CAR-T (n = 3067) | ASCT (n = 3067) | p | SMD | |
| Demographics | ||||||||
| Age at index, mean (SD), y | 60.5 (16.0) | 57.7 (15.1) | <0.001 | 0.180 | 60.1 (16.2) | 59.8 (13.2) | 0.427 | 0.020 |
| Male | 1932 (62.4) | 20,151 (58.0) | <0.001 | 0.090 | 1914 (62.4) | 1920 (62.6) | 0.874 | 0.004 |
| Female | 1164 (37.6) | 14,577 (42.0) | <0.001 | 0.089 | 1153 (37.6) | 1147 (37.4) | 0.874 | 0.004 |
| Race | ||||||||
| White | 2421 (78.2) | 25,474 (73.3) | <0.001 | 0.114 | 2377 (77.5) | 2343 (76.4) | 0.303 | 0.026 |
| Black or African American | 334 (10.8) | 4852 (14.0) | <0.001 | 0.097 | 344 (11.2) | 347 (11.3) | 0.904 | 0.003 |
| Asian | 84 (2.7) | 759 (2.2) | 0.056 | 0.034 | 83 (2.7) | 83 (2.7) | 1.000 | <0.001 |
| Other race | 118 (3.8) | 1690 (4.9) | 0.008 | 0.052 | 122 (4.0) | 125 (4.1) | 0.846 | 0.005 |
| Unknown race | 139 (4.5) | 1959 (5.6) | 0.007 | 0.052 | 141 (4.6) | 169 (5.5) | 0.103 | 0.042 |
| Primary Diagnosis | ||||||||
| Non-follicular lymphoma (DLBCL) | 1802 (58.2) | 5560 (16.0) | <0.001 | 0.971 | 1662 (54.2) | 1681 (54.8) | 0.626 | 0.012 |
| Follicular lymphoma | 409 (13.2) | 1313 (3.8) | <0.001 | 0.343 | 371 (12.1) | 349 (11.4) | 0.383 | 0.022 |
| Multiple myeloma | 1015 (32.8) | 20,841 (60.0) | <0.001 | 0.567 | 1034 (33.7) | 1037 (33.8) | 0.935 | 0.002 |
| Comorbidities | ||||||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 598 (19.3) | 6110 (17.6) | 0.016 | 0.044 | 592 (19.3) | 570 (18.6) | 0.473 | 0.018 |
| Hypertensive diseases | 1573 (50.8) | 16,267 (46.8) | <0.001 | 0.080 | 1543 (50.3) | 1524 (49.7) | 0.628 | 0.012 |
| Ischemic heart disease | 523 (16.9) | 4263 (12.3) | <0.001 | 0.131 | 491 (16.0) | 491 (16.0) | 1.000 | <0.001 |
| Heart failure | 334 (10.8) | 3058 (8.8) | <0.001 | 0.067 | 319 (10.4) | 304 (9.9) | 0.526 | 0.016 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 455 (14.7) | 5393 (15.5) | 0.221 | 0.023 | 448 (14.6) | 439 (14.3) | 0.744 | 0.008 |
| Cerebral infarction | 87 (2.8) | 550 (1.6) | <0.001 | 0.084 | 80 (2.6) | 77 (2.5) | 0.808 | 0.006 |
| Other rheumatoid arthritis | 40 (1.3) | 455 (1.3) | 0.933 | 0.002 | 37 (1.2) | 55 (1.8) | 0.059 | 0.048 |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 9 (0.3) | 162 (0.5) | 0.163 | 0.029 | 9 (0.3) | 9 (0.3) | 1.000 | <0.001 |
| Mental Health | ||||||||
| Mood disorders | 573 (18.5) | 5473 (15.8) | <0.001 | 0.073 | 561 (18.3) | 567 (18.5) | 0.843 | 0.005 |
| Anxiety disorders | 898 (29.0) | 8074 (23.2) | <0.001 | 0.131 | 874 (28.5) | 846 (27.6) | 0.426 | 0.020 |
| Cognitive symptoms (R41) | 353 (11.4) | 2026 (5.8) | <0.001 | 0.199 | 344 (11.2) | 334 (10.9) | 0.684 | 0.010 |
| Schizophrenia & psychotic disorders | 19 (0.6) | 158 (0.5) | 0.215 | 0.022 | 18 (0.6) | 15 (0.5) | 0.601 | 0.013 |
| Procedure/Treatment | ||||||||
| Intrathecal chemotherapy | 325 (10.5) | 1680 (4.8) | <0.001 | 0.214 | 313 (10.2) | 319 (10.4) | 0.801 | 0.006 |
| Antineoplastic radiation therapy | 195 (6.3) | 917 (2.6) | <0.001 | 0.178 | 166 (5.4) | 153 (5.0) | 0.455 | 0.019 |
| Medication | ||||||||
| Corticosteroids (systemic) | 2619 (84.6) | 23,210 (66.8) | <0.001 | 0.424 | 2567 (83.7) | 2635 (85.9) | 0.016 | 0.062 |
| Rituximab | 687 (22.2) | 1786 (5.1) | <0.001 | 0.512 | 567 (18.5) | 592 (19.3) | 0.415 | 0.021 |
| Bendamustine | 307 (9.9) | 353 (1.0) | <0.001 | 0.399 | 187 (6.1) | 169 (5.5) | 0.326 | 0.025 |
| Daratumumab | 238 (7.7) | 2464 (7.1) | 0.219 | 0.023 | 248 (8.1) | 245 (8.0) | 0.888 | 0.004 |
| Lenalidomide | 229 (7.4) | 7230 (20.8) | <0.001 | 0.393 | 239 (7.8) | 218 (7.1) | 0.307 | 0.026 |
| Carfilzomib | 217 (7.0) | 807 (2.3) | <0.001 | 0.224 | 218 (7.1) | 215 (7.0) | 0.881 | 0.004 |
| Bortezomib | 121 (3.9) | 4537 (13.1) | <0.001 | 0.333 | 129 (4.2) | 120 (3.9) | 0.560 | 0.015 |
| Polatuzumab vedotin | 211 (6.8) | 58 (0.2) | <0.001 | 0.368 | 83 (2.7) | 55 (1.8) | 0.016 | 0.062 |
| Brentuximab vedotin | 9 (0.3) | 431 (1.2) | <0.001 | 0.109 | 9 (0.3) | 9 (0.3) | 1.000 | <0.001 |
| Laboratory Values | ||||||||
| BMI, mean (SD), kg/m2 | 28.4 (6.3) | 28.9 (6.5) | <0.001 | 0.078 | 28.4 (6.4) | 28.7 (6.1) | 0.060 | 0.048 |
| LDH, n (%) | ||||||||
| LDH ≤ 250 U/L | 1484 (47.9) | 18,928 (54.5) | <0.001 | 0.132 | 1488 (48.5) | 1537 (50.1) | 0.211 | 0.032 |
| LDH 251–500 U/L | 1077 (34.8) | 11,337 (32.6) | 0.015 | 0.045 | 1063 (34.7) | 1044 (34.0) | 0.609 | 0.013 |
| LDH ≥ 500 U/L | 535 (17.3) | 4469 (12.9) | <0.001 | 0.124 | 516 (16.8) | 486 (15.8) | 0.300 | 0.026 |
| (a) | |||||
| Time From Treatment | CAR-T Cumulative Incidence, % (95% CI) | ASCT Cumulative Incidence, % (95% CI) | Risk Difference, % (CAR-T − ASCT) | Risk Ratio (95% CI) | Cumulative HR (95% CI) |
| 30 days | 9.8 (8.8, 10.9) | 2.9 (2.4, 3.6) | 6.9 (5.7, 8.1) | 3.35 (2.67, 4.22) | 4.22 (3.23, 5.53) |
| 90 days | 11.9 (10.9, 13.1) | 5.1 (4.3, 5.9) | 6.9 (5.5, 8.3) | 2.36 (1.97, 2.83) | 2.65 (2.16, 3.25) |
| 180 days | 13.7 (12.5, 15.0) | 6.9 (6.1, 7.9) | 6.8 (5.2, 8.3) | 1.97 (1.69, 2.31) | 2.33 (1.94, 2.79) |
| 500 days | 17.9 (16.5, 19.4) | 10.4 (9.4, 11.6) | 7.5 (5.6, 9.3) | 1.72 (1.50, 1.97) | 1.96 (1.68, 2.28) |
| 1000 days | 21.3 (19.6, 23.2) | 14.5 (13.2, 16.0) | 6.8 (4.5, 9.1) | 1.47 (1.29, 1.67) | 1.84 (1.60, 2.13) |
| 1500 days | 23.3 (21.2, 25.5) | 17.9 (16.3, 19.6) | 5.4 (2.7, 8.1) | 1.30 (1.14, 1.48) | 1.79 (1.56, 2.06) |
| 2000 days | 24.8 (22.2, 27.6) | 20.7 (18.9, 22.6) | 4.1 (0.8, 7.3) | 1.20 (1.04, 1.38) | 1.77 (1.54, 2.03) |
| 2500 days † | 24.8 (22.2, 27.6) | 23.9 (21.8, 26.2) | 0.8 (−2.6, 4.3) | 1.03 (0.90, 1.19) | 1.76 (1.54, 2.02) |
| Overall, full follow-up | Censoring-adjusted Cox summary over the entire follow-up. The crude proportion (CAR-T 16.6% vs. ASCT 16.2%, RR 1.02) is not reported, as it ignores the differential follow-up and censoring between the cohorts. | 1.58 (1.39–1.80); log-rank p < 0.001 | |||
| (b) | |||||
| Sensitivity Analysis | Patients at Risk at Landmark, CAR-T/ASCT | HR (95% CI) | p Value | ||
| Primary analysis (from index date) | 3067/3067 | 1.58 (1.39–1.80) | <0.001 | ||
| Day 30 landmark | 2800/3000 | 1.30 (1.10–1.52) | <0.01 | ||
| Day 90 landmark | 2710/2900 | 1.25 (1.05–1.48) | <0.05 | ||
| (c) | |||||
| Time Horizon | CAR-T RMST, Days (95% CI) | ASCT RMST, Days (95% CI) | RMST Difference, Days (95% CI) | p | |
| 1 year (365 days) | 316.1 (311.8–320.4) | 340.9 (338.0–343.9) | −24.8 (−30.1, −19.6) | <0.001 | |
| 2 years (730 days) | 612.2 (602.6–621.7) | 665.6 (658.7–672.5) | −53.4 (−65.2, −41.6) | <0.001 | |
| 3 years (1095 days) | 898.5 (882.8–914.3) | 978.7 (967.3–990.1) | −80.2 (−99.6, −60.7) | <0.001 | |
| Outcome | CAR-T Cumulative Incidence, % (95% CI) | ASCT Cumulative Incidence, % (95% CI) | Risk Ratio (95% CI) | Hazard Ratio (95% CI) | p | E-Value (Point [CI]) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Impairment | ||||||
| Composite | 24.8 (22.2–27.6) | 23.0 (21.5–24.6) | 1.351 (1.184–1.541) | 1.583 (1.390–1.801) | <0.001 | 2.54 (2.13) |
| Dementia (All Causes) | 2.3 (1.6–3.3) | 3.0 (2.4–3.9) | 0.766 (0.498–1.180) | 1.233 (0.872–1.745) | 0.237 | 1.77 (1.00) |
| Age-related cognitive decline # | — | — | — | 1.236 (0.393–3.888) | 0.721 | 1.78 (1.00) |
| Cognitive Dysfunction | 4.4 (3.2–5.9) | 3.5 (2.8–4.4) | 1.241 (0.847–1.820) | 1.902 (1.373–2.634) | <0.001 | 3.21 (2.09) |
| Memory Impairment | 4.7 (3.6–6.3) | 4.7 (3.9–5.8) | 0.999 (0.706–1.414) | 1.384 (1.044–1.835) | 0.024 | 2.11 (1.26) |
| Attention/Concentration Deficits # | — | — | — | 1.853 (0.630–5.451) | 0.263 | 3.11 (1.00) |
| Altered Mental Status | 16.9 (15.2–18.7) | 10.9 (9.6–12.3) | 1.552 (1.324–1.819) | 1.483 (1.267–1.736) | <0.001 | 2.33 (1.85) |
| Composite (excluding altered mental status) | 8.0 (6.6–9.8) | 7.3 (6.3–8.5) | 1.201 (1.006–1.396) | 1.608 (1.406–1.840) | <0.001 | 2.60 (2.16) |
| Neurological Dysfunction | ||||||
| Composite | 26.0 (23.9–28.3) | 19.5 (18.0–21.2) | 1.331 (1.183–1.498) | 1.686 (1.504–1.890) | <0.001 | 2.76 (2.37) |
| Delirium | 4.5 (3.4–5.9) | 2.9 (2.3–3.7) | 1.571 (1.087–2.272) | 1.662 (1.252–2.206) | <0.001 | 2.71 (1.81) |
| Encephalopathy | 14.7 (13.2–16.5) | 9.2 (8.1–10.4) | 1.608 (1.354–1.908) | 2.035 (1.727–2.398) | <0.001 | 3.49 (2.85) |
| Epilepsy/Seizures | 6.1 (5.1–7.3) | 4.9 (4.1–5.8) | 1.247 (0.965–1.612) | 1.624 (1.251–2.107) | <0.001 | 2.63 (1.81) |
| Migraine | 3.9 (3.0–5.1) | 4.1 (3.4–5.1) | 0.945 (0.676–1.321) | 1.301 (0.981–1.727) | 0.067 | 1.93 (1.00) |
| Other Headaches | 5.5 (4.4–7.0) | 4.8 (4.0–5.9) | 1.141 (0.840–1.551) | 1.200 (0.954–1.509) | 0.121 | 1.69 (1.00) |
| Functional Outcomes | ||||||
| Falls/Fall-related Injuries | 23.5 (20.8–26.3) | 20.5 (18.8–22.3) | 1.144 (0.990–1.322) | 1.182 (1.033–1.353) | 0.016 | 1.65 (1.22) |
| Mobility Impairment # | — | — | — | 0.936 (0.747–1.173) | 0.566 | 1.34 (1.00) |
| Psychiatric Disorders | ||||||
| Composite | 51.4 (48.7–54.1) | 50.9 (48.9–53.0) | 1.010 (0.945–1.079) | 1.171 (1.083–1.266) | <0.001 | 1.62 (1.38) |
| Depression Episodes | 22.8 (20.6–25.2) | 23.9 (22.2–25.7) | 0.955 (0.844–1.080) | 1.022 (0.908–1.151) | 0.717 | 1.17 (1.00) |
| Recurrent Major Depression | 4.1 (3.1–5.4) | 5.0 (4.2–6.0) | 0.819 (0.585–1.146) | 1.084 (0.796–1.476) | 0.607 | 1.39 (1.00) |
| Anxiety Disorders | 30.0 (27.7–32.5) | 29.5 (27.7–31.5) | 1.015 (0.917–1.124) | 1.098 (0.989–1.219) | 0.080 | 1.43 (1.00) |
| Sleep Disorders | 32.6 (30.1–35.3) | 31.2 (29.3–33.1) | 1.046 (0.947–1.156) | 1.293 (1.170–1.430) | <0.001 | 1.91 (1.62) |
| Hematologic Outcomes | ||||||
| Secondary Malignancies | 32.5 (30.1–35.1) | 32.1 (30.1–34.1) | 1.015 (0.919–1.121) | 1.056 (0.954–1.170) | 0.297 | 1.30 (1.00) |
| Secondary AML | 7.7 (6.4–9.2) | 14.7 (13.3–16.2) | 0.524 (0.428–0.642) | 0.457 (0.381–0.549) | <0.001 | 3.80 (3.04) |
| Secondary T-cell Lymphoma # | — | — | — | 0.162 (0.048–0.545) | 0.003 | 11.82 (3.07) |
| Myelodysplastic Syndrome | 5.8 (4.5–7.3) | 6.5 (5.5–7.6) | 0.889 (0.665–1.188) | 0.940 (0.740–1.195) | 0.616 | 1.32 (1.00) |
| Coagulation Abnormality | 6.9 (5.6–8.4) | 3.9 (3.2–4.8) | 1.749 (1.305–2.344) | 1.311 (1.029–1.670) | 0.028 | 1.95 (1.20) |
| Venous Thromboembolism | 13.8 (12.0–15.8) | 11.2 (10.0–12.6) | 1.233 (1.029–1.477) | 1.005 (0.856–1.180) | 0.949 | 1.08 (1.00) |
| Negative Control Outcomes | ||||||
| Gallstones | 8.8 (7.3–10.7) | 7.5 (6.6–8.7) | 1.148 (0.749–1.733) | 1.183 (0.959–1.461) | 0.116 | 1.65 (1.00) |
| Kidney Stones | 6.4 (5.2–7.8) | 6.2 (5.2–7.3) | 1.026 (0.785–1.341) | 1.142 (0.901–1.449) | 0.271 | 1.54 (1.00) |
| Appendicitis | 0.8 (0.5–1.3) | 0.8 (0.5–1.2) | 1.001 (0.491–2.040) | 0.920 (0.503–1.683) | 0.785 | 1.39 (1.00) |
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Share and Cite
Blyzniuk, A.; Chen, P.-H.; Chang, W.-C.; Chen, H.-Y.; Kao, L.-T.; Hsieh, T.Y.-J.; Dai, M.-S.; Jhou, H.-J.; Lee, C.-H. Long-Term Cognitive Impairment After CAR-T Therapy Versus Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study. Diagnostics 2026, 16, 1862. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics16121862
Blyzniuk A, Chen P-H, Chang W-C, Chen H-Y, Kao L-T, Hsieh TY-J, Dai M-S, Jhou H-J, Lee C-H. Long-Term Cognitive Impairment After CAR-T Therapy Versus Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study. Diagnostics. 2026; 16(12):1862. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics16121862
Chicago/Turabian StyleBlyzniuk, Anna, Po-Huang Chen, Wei-Cheng Chang, Hsin-Yu Chen, Li-Ting Kao, Tina Yi-Jin Hsieh, Ming-Shen Dai, Hong-Jie Jhou, and Cho-Hao Lee. 2026. "Long-Term Cognitive Impairment After CAR-T Therapy Versus Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study" Diagnostics 16, no. 12: 1862. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics16121862
APA StyleBlyzniuk, A., Chen, P.-H., Chang, W.-C., Chen, H.-Y., Kao, L.-T., Hsieh, T. Y.-J., Dai, M.-S., Jhou, H.-J., & Lee, C.-H. (2026). Long-Term Cognitive Impairment After CAR-T Therapy Versus Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study. Diagnostics, 16(12), 1862. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics16121862

