Broad spectrum antiviral T cells for viral complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Major complications of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) or solid organ transplantation (SOT), such as graft rejection and graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD), are countered by suppressing the host immune system via chemotherapy and radiation, immunosuppressive drugs, or conditioning regimens such as in vivo or in vitro T-cell depletion. While immunocompromised, the patient is rendered susceptible to a number of viral infections and reactivations mainly caused by endogenous herpes viruses like cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and by lytic agents such as adenovirus (ADV). In the paper entitled “Activity of broadspectrum T cells as treatment for ADV, EBV, CMV, BKV, and HHV6 Infections after HSCT” published recently in Science Translational Medicine, Anastasia Papadopoulou and colleagues reported a suitable technology for rapid generation of antiviral T cells with a broad specificity in a single-culture for clinical application. In a small clinical trial with 11 patients they demonstrated safety and efficacy of adoptive multivirus-specific T-cell transfer.