Short Communication Potential role of tocilizumab in severe gastrointestinal barrier damage after CAR T-cell therapy

We report a septicemia and disseminated candidiasis due to delayed gastrointestinal mucosae repair in a patient treated with tocilizumab after anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy. Tocilizumab could have inhibited intestinal tissue repair and furthered bacteria translocation leading to the invasion of intestinal mucosa by yeasts as IL-6 is known to be involved in mucosal wound healing. Copyright ? 2021, Taiwan Society of Microbiology. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

This case report discusses a case of septicemia and disseminated candidiasis in a patient treated with tocilizumab following anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy. The study suggests that tocilizumab may have hindered intestinal tissue repair, leading to bacterial translocation and subsequent invasion of intestinal mucosa by yeasts.