EBMT 2025 | EBV+ PTLD: clinical perspectives & insights into EBV-driven cell therapy

So, EBV positive PTLD represents a rare complication for both our hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients and also solid organ transplant recipients. But the long-term outcome is quite poor, basically in those patients that do not respond to first line treatment strategy, which is basically reduction or elimination of the immunosuppression that usually the patient is already taking during the development of this complication and also the addition of rituximab. 

Nowadays we have the possibility to use EBV-driven cellular therapy strategies that are available in the US and they are also available in Europe that have been approved for the treatment of EBV positive PTLD that do not respond or that are primarily refractory to first-line treatment strategies. The complete remission rate is really very high. We have a significant improvement in terms of PFS and overall survival, and the toxicity profile is also very mild. So there are new treatment strategies for these patients that probably are already changing the long-term outcome. 

What is very important to take into consideration is that these patients and these complications need to be diagnosed as quickly as possible and that there should be a lot of work being done in terms of disease awareness, not only to understand the disease itself but also to try to make a quick diagnosis or as quick as possible to refer the patient to the treatment physician.

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