Belatacept as an Alternative Immunosuppressive Agent for Bone Marrow-Sparing in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Lung Transplant Recipients with Short Telomeres.

Abstract

As we have previously shown, Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis lung transplant recipients (IPF-LTRs) with short-telomere length (STL) are prone to develop significant cytopenias and poor tolerance to cell cycle inhibitors, specifically Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), post-transplant. We investigated the use of Belatacept as an alternative immunosuppressive agent in a prospective, open-label cohort of 9 ST-IPF-LTRs at our institution. These patients were either challenged with MMF (majority) or immediately started on Belatacept post-transplant with the goal to bridge to Everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor that is commonly used post-transplant. We describe outcomes in the first-year post-transplant including the incidence of Acute Cellular Rejection (ACR), Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) viremia, and one case of Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder (PTLD) at 13 months. The use of Belatacept post-lung transplant may be an acceptable short-term alternative therapy to cell cycle inhibitors in ST-IPF-LTRs with cytopenias but may lead to higher risk of EBV viremia and PTLD when Belatacept is used long-term in these patients.