*Purpose: Viral infections such as BK virus (BKV), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and adenovirus after kidney transplantation negatively impact outcomes in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients despite advancements in screening and prophylactic therapy. There is emerging evidence in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients that viral specific T cells serves as a prognostic indicator for identifying patients at risk for viral complications. We describe initial experience of using the viral specific T (VST) cell therapy in solid organ transplant recipients at our transplant center.

*Methods: Four SOT patients with Adenovirus, BKV and CMV infections were given viral specific T cell therapy through a tertiary care center which is the only center in the country able to provide third-party VST cell therapy approved by the research protocol. Key exclusion criteria were use of anti thymocyte globulin within 2 weeks of VST infusion, use of steroids >0.5g/Kg/day and uncontrolled bacterial or fungal infections.

*Results: Figure 1 depicts the clinical and laboratory data for each of these patients. All the patients tolerated VST infusion without any complications such as graft versus host disease or cytokine release syndrome over short follow up period.

*Conclusions: Reduction in immunosuppression and use of antiviral therapy form the current treatment paradigm for adenovirus and CMV infections in SOT recipients. There is no effective antiviral therapy available for BKV. Patients that are resistant to antivirals, and those that have increasing viral titers despite conventional management indicate a poor T cell immunity, with or without allograft dysfunction and may benefit from VST cell therapy thus prolonging allograft survival. Our case series suggests a promising role for VST however there is need for more studies to understand the efficacy, short and long terms risks associated with T cell therapy.

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