Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-positive lymphoproliferative disease can occur following allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) or solid organ transplantation (SOT). Several treatment options, including rituximab, are available for patients with this disease, although relapse occurs in ~50% and is associated with a poor prognosis. Now, the results of the phase III ALLELE trial demonstrate the promising efficacy of tabelecleucel, an ‘off-the-shelf’ polyclonal EBV-specific T cell product from EBV-seropositive donors that is selected for each patient on the basis of a partially matched HLA profile, in this setting.

Patients with EBV-positive lymphoproliferative disease that was relapsed and/or refractory to rituximab after HSCT (n = 14) or to rituximab ± chemotherapy after SOT (n = 29) received three tabelecleucel infusions (2 × 10⁶ cells each). Objective response rate (ORR) in the HSCT and SOT groups separately was the primary end point.