Abstract 796: Altered immune response to vaccination in patients with plasma cell premalignancy
Authors: Konishi Yoshinobu , Sklavenitis-Pistofidis Romanos , Aranha Michelle P. , Wu Ting , Yue Hong , Lightbody Elizabeth D. , Rahmat Mahshid , Timonian Michael , Varmeh Shohreh , Heilpern-Mallory Daniel , Agius Michael P. , Su Nang K. , Perry Jacqueline , Horowitz Erica , Davis Maya I. , Justis Anna V. , Nowak Radosław P. , Hamilton Mark , Auclair Daniel , Marinac Catherine R. , Fischer Eric S. , Getz Gad , Ghobrial Irene M. 
Published: April 2023

Introduction

Patients with hematological malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MM), experience sub-optimal responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS) and Smoldering Multiple Myeloma (SMM) are precursors to MM and exhibit altered immune cell composition and function. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the subsequent population-wide vaccination represent an opportunity to study the real-life immune response to a common antigen. Here, we present updated results from the IMPACT study, a study we launched in November 2020 to characterize the effect of plasma cell premalignancy on response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (vx).

Methods

We performed: (i) ELISA for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies on 1,887 peripheral blood (PB) samples (237 healthy donors (HD), and 550 MGUS, 947 SMM, and 153 MM patients) drawn pre- and post-vx; (ii) single-cell RNA, T cell receptor (TCR), and B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing (10x Genomics) on 224 PB samples (26 HD, and 20 MGUS, 48 SMM, and 24 MM patients) drawn pre- and post-vx; (iii) plasma cytokine profiling (Olink) on 106 PB samples (32 HD, and 38 MGUS and 36 SMM patients) drawn pre- and post-vx; and (iv) bulk TCR sequencing (Adaptive Biotechnologies) on 8 PB samples from 4 patients (2 MGUS, 2 SMM) drawn pre- and post-vx.

Results

Patients with MGUS and SMM achieved comparable antibody titers to HD two months post-vx. However, patient titers waned significantly faster, and 4 months post-vx we observed significantly lower titers in both MGUS (Wilcoxon rank-sum, p=0.030) and SMM (p=0.010). These results indicate impaired humoral immune response in patients with MGUS and SMM.At baseline, the TCR repertoire was significantly less diverse in patients with SMM compared to HD (Wilcoxon rank-sum, p=0.039), while no significant difference was observed in the BCR repertoire (p=0.095). Interestingly, a significant increase in TCR repertoire diversity was observed post-vx in patients with SMM (paired t-test, p=0.014), indicating rare T cell clone recruitment in response to vaccination. In both HD and patients, recruited clones showed upregulation of genes associated with CD4+ naïve and memory T cells, suggesting preservation of the T cell response in SMM, which was confirmed by bulk TCR-sequencing in 4 patients.Lastly, by cytokine profiling, we observed a defect in IL-1β and IL-18 induction post-vx in patients with SMM compared to HD (Wilcoxon rank-sum, p=0.047 and p=0.015, respectively), two key monocyte-derived mediators of acute inflammation, suggesting an altered innate immune response as well.

Conclusion

Taken together, our findings highlight that despite the absence of clinical manifestations, plasma cell premalignancy is associated with defects in both innate and adaptive immune responses. Therefore, patients with plasma cell premalignancy may require adjusted vaccination strategies for optimal immunization.

Citation Format: Yoshinobu Konishi, Romanos Sklavenitis-Pistofidis, Michelle P. Aranha, Ting Wu, Hong Yue, Elizabeth D. Lightbody, Mahshid Rahmat, Michael Timonian, Shohreh Varmeh, Daniel Heilpern-Mallory, Michael P. Agius, Nang K. Su, Jacqueline Perry, Erica Horowitz, Maya I. Davis, Anna V. Justis, Radosław P. Nowak, Mark Hamilton, Daniel Auclair, Catherine R. Marinac, Eric S. Fischer, Gad Getz, Irene M. Ghobrial. Altered immune response to vaccination in patients with plasma cell premalignancy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 796.