Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation involves consideration of both donor and recipient characteristics to guide the selection of a suitable graft. Sufficient high-resolution donor–recipient ...HLA match is of primary importance in transplantation with adult unrelated donors, using conventional graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis. In cord blood transplantation, optimal unit selection requires consideration of unit quality, cell dose and HLA-match. In this summary, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, jointly with the NMDP Histocompatibility Advisory Group, provide evidence-based guidelines for optimal selection of unrelated donors and cord blood units.
Haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients are considered at high risk of poor outcomes after COVID-19 on the basis of their immunosuppressed status, but data from large studies in ...HSCT recipients are lacking. This study describes the characteristics and outcomes of HSCT recipients after developing COVID-19.
In response to the pandemic, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) implemented a special form for COVID-19-related data capture on March 27, 2020. All patients-irrespective of age, diagnosis, donor type, graft source, or conditioning regimens-were included in the analysis with data cutoff of Aug 12, 2020. The main outcome was overall survival 30 days after a COVID-19 diagnosis. Overall survival probabilities were calculated using Kaplan-Meier estimator. Factors associated with mortality after COVID-19 diagnosis were examined using Cox proportional hazard models.
318 HSCT recipients diagnosed with COVID-19 were reported to the CIBMTR. The median time from HSCT to COVID-19 diagnosis was 17 months (IQR 8-46) for allogeneic HSCT recipients and 23 months (8-51) for autologous HSCT recipients. The median follow-up of survivors was 21 days (IQR 8-41) for allogeneic HSCT recipients and 25 days (12-35) for autologous HSCT recipients. 34 (18%) of 184 allogeneic HSCT recipients were receiving immunosuppression within 6 months of COVID-19 diagnosis. Disease severity was mild in 155 (49%) of 318 patients, while severe disease requiring mechanical ventilation occurred in 45 (14%) of 318 patients-ie, 28 (15%) of 184 allogeneic HSCT recipients and 17 (13%) of 134 autologous HSCT recipients. At 30 days after the diagnosis of COVID-19, overall survival was 68% (95% CI 58-77) for recipients of allogeneic HSCT and 67% (55-78) for recipients of autologous HSCT. Age 50 years or older (hazard ratio 2·53, 95% CI 1·16-5·52; p=0·020); male sex (3·53; 1·44-8·67; p=0·006), and development of COVID-19 within 12 months of transplantation (2·67, 1·33-5·36; p=0·005) were associated with a higher risk of mortality among allogeneic HSCT recipients, and a disease indication of lymphoma was associated with a higher risk of mortality compared with plasma cell disorder or myeloma (2·41, 1·08-5·38; p=0·033) in autologous HSCT recipients.
Recipients of autologous and allogeneic HSCT who develop COVID-19 have poor overall survival. These data emphasise the need for stringent surveillance and aggressive treatment measures in HSCT recipients who develop COVID-19.
American Society of Hematology; Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; National Cancer Institute; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; National Institutes of Health; National Cancer Institute; Health Resources and Services Administration; Office of Naval Research.
Summary
A joint working group established by the Haemato‐oncology subgroup of the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) and the British Society for Bone Marrow Transplantation (BSBMT) ...has reviewed the available literature and made recommendations for the diagnosis and management of acute graft‐versus‐host disease. This guideline includes recommendations for the diagnosis and grading of acute graft‐versus‐host disease as well as primary treatment and options for patients with steroid‐refractory disease. The goal of treatment should be effective control of graft‐versus‐host disease while minimizing risk of toxicity and relapse.
Summary Background The risks after unrelated-donor haemopoietic-cell transplantation with matched HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1 alleles between donor and recipient (10/10 matched) can be ...decreased by selection of unrelated donors who also match for HLA-DPB1; however, such donors are difficult to find. Classification of HLA-DPB1 mismatches based on T-cell-epitope groups could identify mismatches that might be tolerated (permissive) and those that would increase risks (non-permissive) after transplantation. We did a retrospective study to compare outcomes between permissive and non-permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches in unrelated-donor haemopoietic-cell transplantation. Methods HLA and clinical data for related-donor transplantations submitted to the International Histocompatibility Working Group in haemopoietic-cell transplantation were analysed retrospectively. HLA-DPB1 T-cell-epitope groups were assigned according to a functional algorithm based on alloreactive T-cell crossreactivity patterns. Recipients and unrelated donors matching status were classified as HLA-DPB1 match, non-permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatch (those with mismatched T-cell-epitope groups), or permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatch (those with matched T-cell-epitope groups). The clinical outcomes assessed were overall mortality, non-relapse mortality, relapse, and severe (grade 3–4) acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD). Findings Of 8539 transplantations, 5428 (64%) were matched for ten of ten HLA alleles (HLA 10/10 matched) and 3111 (36%) for nine of ten alleles (HLA 9/10 matched). Of the group overall, 1719 (20%) were HLA-DPB1 matches, 2670 (31%) non-permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches, and 4150 (49%) permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches. In HLA 10/10-matched transplantations, non-permissive mismatches were associated with a significantly increased risk of overall mortality (hazard ratio HR 1·15, 95% CI 1·05–1·25; p=0·002), non-relapse mortality (1·28, 1·14–1·42; p<0·0001), and severe aGvHD (odds ratio OR 1·31, 95% CI 1·11–1·54; p=0·001), but not relapse (HR 0·89, 95% CI 0·77–1·02; p=0·10), compared with permissive mismatches. There were significant differences between permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches and HLA-DPB1 matches in terms of non-relapse mortality (0·86, 0·75–0·98; p=0·03) and relapse (1·34, 1·17–1·54; p<0·0001), but not for overall mortality (0·96, 0·87–1·06; p=0·40) or aGvHD (OR 0·84, 95% CI 0·69–1·03; p=0·09). In the HLA 9/10 matched population, non-permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches also increased the risk of overall mortality (HR 1·10, 95% CI 1·00–1·22; p=0·06), non-relapse mortality (1·19, 1·05–1·36; p=0·007), and severe aGvHD (OR 1·37, 95% CI 1·13–1·66; p=0·002) compared with permissive mismatches, but the risk of relapse was the same in both groups (HR 0·93, 95% CI 0·78–1·11; p=0·44). Outcomes for HLA 10/10-matched transplantations with non-permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches did not differ substantially from those for HLA 9/10-matched transplantations with permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches or HLA-DPB1 matches. Interpretation T-cell-epitope matching defines permissive and non-permissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches. Avoidance of an unrelated donor with a non-permissive T-cell-epitope mismatch at HLA-DPB1 might provide a practical clinical strategy for lowering the risks of mortality after unrelated-donor haemopoietic-cell transplantation. Funding National Institutes of Health; Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro; Telethon Foundation; Italian Ministry of Health; Cariplo Foundation; National Cancer Institute; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Office of Naval Research; IRGHET Paris; Swedish Cancer Society; Children's Cancer Foundation; Swedish Research Council; Cancer Society in Stockholm; Karolinska Institutet; and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Chronic graft-
-host disease occurs in 20-50% of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant survivors. We surveyed patients about their quality of life, symptoms, health status, comorbid conditions and ...medications. Instruments included the Short-Form-36 (SF-36), the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global and PROMIS-29 scales and the Lee Chronic Graft-
-Host Disease Symptom Scale. Functional status was measured by self-reported Karnofsky performance status and work status. Of 3027 surveys sent to recipients surviving one or more years after transplantation, 1377 (45%) were returned. Among these, patients reported that their chronic graft-
-host disease was mild (n=257, 18.7%), moderate (n=110, 8.0%) or severe (n=25, 1.8%). Another 377 (27.4%) had never had chronic graft-
-host disease and 280 (20.3%) had had chronic graft-
-host disease but it had resolved. We excluded 328 (23.8%) patients who did not answer the questions about chronic graft-
-host disease. Patients who reported moderate or severe chronic graft-
-host disease reported worse quality of life, lower performance status, a higher symptom burden and were more likely to be taking prescription medications for pain, anxiety and depression compared to those with resolved chronic graft-
-host disease. Self-reported measures were similar between patients with resolved chronic graft-
-host disease and those who had never had it. Our data suggest that the PROMIS measures may be able to replace the SF-36 in the assessment of chronic graft-
-host disease. Between 26.7-39.4% of people with active chronic graft-
-host disease were unable to work due to health reasons, compared with 12.1% whose chronic graft-
-host disease had resolved and 15.4% who had never had chronic graft-
-host disease. Mouth, eye and nutritional symptoms persisted after resolution of chronic graft-
-host disease. These results show that better prevention of and treatment for chronic graft-
-host disease are needed to improve survivorship after allogeneic transplantation.
Donation of haematopoietic stem cells, either through bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collection, is a generally safe procedure for healthy donors, although side effects are a ...known risk. Previous research, including our recent quantitative study, has shown that the psychosocial response to donating is usually a positive one and most donors would be willing to donate again in the future. This is often despite experiencing significant side effects during the donation process. Due to the relative recent introduction of PBSC, a comprehensive understanding of the range of physical and emotional issues donors may experience is lacking, as well as an understanding of specific donor characteristics Qualitative research can provide rich narrative data into these areas. This study was set up in order to identify specific donor characteristics and to further explore the relationship between pre-donation physical health and the donation experience, as previously identified in our quantitative study.
It involved in-depth telephone interviews with 14 PBSC donors who participated in our original quantitative study. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the findings and the results provide a summary of participants' characteristics using themes and constituent codes.
We identified several donor characteristics, including strong intrinsic motivation, altruism, sense of duty, determination, low levels of ambivalence and the ability to develop a strong emotional relationship with an (unknown/anonymous) recipient whilst being able to manage strong feelings and emotions.
These personality traits may explain the resilience that has been observed previously in haematopoietic stem cells donors. Significant feelings of grief were reported after a recipient's death. Possibilities to alleviate these symptoms may include raising awareness of potential poor outcomes in the recipient and offering improved counselling services if the recipient dies. We acknowledge several limitations including the sampling frame.
Summary
A joint working group established by the Haemato‐oncology subgroup of the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) and the British Society for Bone Marrow Transplantation (BSBMT) ...has reviewed the available literature and made recommendations for the diagnosis and management of chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (GvHD). This guideline includes recommendations for the diagnosis and staging of chronic GvHD as well as primary treatment and options for patients with steroid‐refractory disease. The goal of treatment should be the effective control of GvHD while minimizing the risk of toxicity and relapse.
Hematopoietic cell transplantation from HLA-haploidentical related donors is increasingly used to treat hematologic cancers; however, characteristics of the optimal haploidentical donor have not been ...established. We studied the role of donor HLA mismatching in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), disease recurrence, and survival after haploidentical donor transplantation with posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) for 1434 acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome patients reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. The impact of mismatching in the graft-versus-host vector for HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1 alleles, the HLA-B leader, and HLA-DPB1 T-cell epitope (TCE) were studied using multivariable regression methods. Outcome was associated with HLA (mis)matches at individual loci rather than the total number of HLA mismatches. HLA-DRB1 mismatches were associated with lower risk of disease recurrence. HLA-DRB1 mismatching with HLA-DQB1 matching correlated with improved disease-free survival. HLA-B leader matching and HLA-DPB1 TCE-nonpermissive mismatching were each associated with improved overall survival. HLA-C matching lowered chronic GVHD risk, and the level of HLA-C expression correlated with transplant-related mortality. Matching status at the HLA-B leader and HLA-DRB1, -DQB1, and -DPB1 predicted disease-free survival, as did patient and donor cytomegalovirus serostatus, patient age, and comorbidity index. A web-based tool was developed to facilitate selection of the best haploidentical-related donor by calculating disease-free survival based on these characteristics. In conclusion, HLA factors influence the success of haploidentical transplantation with PTCy. HLA-DRB1 and -DPB1 mismatching and HLA-C, -B leader, and -DQB1 matching are favorable. Consideration of HLA factors may help to optimize the selection of haploidentical related donors.
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