Somatic mutations are recognized as an important prognostic factor in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). However, limited data are available regarding their impact on outcomes after allogeneic ...hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). In this registry analysis conducted in collaboration with the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation Registry database/sample repository, we identified 313 adult patients with CMML (median age: 64 years, range, 28- 77) who underwent allogeneic HCT during 2001-2017 and had an available biospecimen in the form of a peripheral blood sample obtained prior to the start of conditioning. In multivariate analysis, a CMML-specific prognostic scoring system (CPSS) score of intermediate-2 (HR=1.46, P=0.049) or high (HR=3.22, P=0.0004) correlated significantly with overall survival. When the molecularly informed CPSS-Mol prognostic model was applied, a high CPSS-Mol score (HR=2 P=0.0079) correlated significantly with overall survival. The most common somatic mutations were in ASXL1 (62%), TET2 (35%), KRAS/NRAS (33% combined), and SRSF2 (31%). DNMT3A and TP53 mutations were associated with decreased overall survival (HR=1.70 95% CI: 1.11-2.60, P=0.0147 and HR=2.72 95% CI: 1.37-5.39, P=0.0042, respectively) while DNMT3A, JAK2, and TP53 mutations were associated with decreased disease-free survival (HR=1.66 95% CI: 1.11-2.49, P=0.0138, HR=1.79 95% CI: 1.06-3.03, P=0.0293, and HR=2.94 95% CI: 1.50-5.79, P=0.0018, respectively). The only mutation associated with increased relapse was TP53 (HR=2.94, P=0.0201). Nonetheless, the impact of TP53 mutations specifically should be interpreted cautiously given their rarity in CMML. We calculated the goodness of fit measured by Harrell's C-index for both the CPSS and CPSS-Mol, which were very similar. In summary, via registry data we have determined the mutational landscape in patients with CMML who underwent allogeneic HCT, and demonstrated an association between CPSS-Mol and transplant outcomes although without major improvement in the risk prediction beyond that provided by the CPSS.
The addition of antithymocyte globulin (ATG) to a regimen of high-dose cyclophosphamide has been advocated to enhance engraftment after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for severe ...aplastic anemia (SAA). In a prospective clinical trial, 134 patients were randomly assigned to receive cyclophosphamide alone or in combination with ATG. All patients received T-cell–replete bone marrow from an HLA-matched sibling. With a median follow-up of 6 years, the 5-year probabilities of survival were 74% for the cyclophosphamide alone group and 80% for the cyclophosphamide plus ATG group (P = .44). Graft failure and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) rates were similar in both groups. With the survival rates achieved, this study is not adequately powered to detect significant differences between the 2 treatment groups. In conclusion, the results of allogeneic BMT for SAA have improved over time related to advances in supportive care. The addition of ATG to the preparative regimen did not significantly improve the outcome.
We describe outcomes after human leukocyte antigen-matched sibling bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for 179 patients with β-thalassemia major. The median age at transplantation was 7 years and the ...median follow-up was 6 years. The distribution of Pesaro risk class I, II, and III categories was 2%, 42%, and 36%, respectively. The day 30 cumulative incidence of neutrophil recovery and day 100 platelet recovery were 90% and 86%, respectively. Seventeen patients had graft failure, which was fatal in 11. Six of 9 patients with graft failure are alive after a second transplantation. The day 100 probability of acute graft-versus-host disease and 5-year probability of chronic graft-versus-host disease was 38% and 13%, respectively. The 5-year probabilities of overall- and disease-free survival were 91% and 88%, respectively, for patients with Pesaro risk class II, and 64% and 62%, respectively, for Pesaro risk class III. In multivariate analysis, mortality risks were higher in patients 7 years of age and older and those with hepatomegaly before BMT. The leading causes of death were interstitial pneumonitis (n = 7), hemorrhage (n = 8), and veno-occlusive disease (n = 6). Proceeding to BMT in children younger than 7 years before development of end-organ damage, particularly in the liver, should improve results after BMT for β-thalassemia major.
The management of COVID-19 in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients represents a special challenge given the variable states of immune dysregulation and altered vaccine efficacy in this ...population. A systematic search (Ovid Medline and Embase on 1 June 2021) was needed to better understand the presenting features, prognostic factors, and treatment options. Of 897 records, 29 studies were identified in our search. Most studies reporting on adults and pediatric recipients described signs and symptoms that were typical of COVID-19. Overall, the mortality rates were high, with 21% of adults and 6% of pediatric HCT recipients succumbing to COVID-19. The factors reported to be associated with increased mortality included age (HR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.03-1.43,
= 0.02), ICU admission (HR = 4.42, 95% CI 2.25-8.65,
< 0.001 and HR = 2.26, 95% CI 1.22-4.20,
= 0.01 for allogeneic and autologous HCT recipients), and low platelet count (OR = 21.37, 95% CI 1.71-267.11,
= 0.01). Performance status was associated with decreased mortality (HR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.74-0.93,
= 0.001). A broad range of treatments was described, although no controlled studies were identified. The risk of bias, using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale, was low. Patients undergoing HCT are at a high risk of severe morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19. Controlled studies investigating potential treatments are required to determine the efficacy and safety in this population.
Abstract Approximately 20,000 hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) procedures are performed in the United States annually. With advances in transplantation technology and supportive care ...practices, HCT has become safer, and patient survival continues to improve over time. Indications for HCT continue to evolve as research refines the role for HCT in established indications and identifies emerging indications where HCT may be beneficial. The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) established a multiple-stakeholder task force consisting of transplant experts, payer representatives, and a patient advocate to provide guidance on “routine” indications for HCT. This white paper presents the recommendations from the task force. Indications for HCT were categorized as follows: (1) Standard of care, where indication for HCT is well defined and supported by evidence; (2) Standard of care, clinical evidence available, where large clinical trials and observational studies are not available but HCT has been shown to be effective therapy; (3) Standard of care, rare indication, for rare diseases where HCT has demonstrated effectiveness but large clinical trials and observational studies are not feasible; (4) Developmental, for diseases where preclinical and/or early phase clinical studies show HCT to be a promising treatment option; and (5) Not generally recommended, where available evidence does not support the routine use of HCT. The ASBMT will periodically review these guidelines and will update them as new evidence becomes available.
The best conditioning regimen before allogeneic transplantation for high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains to be clarified. We analyzed data from 396 recipients of allotransplants ...for DLBCL receiving myeloablative (MAC; n = 165), reduced intensity (RIC; n = 143), or nonmyeloablative conditioning (NMAC; n = 88) regimens. Acute and chronic GVHD rates were similar across the groups. Five-year nonrelapse mortality (NRM) was higher in MAC than RIC and NMAC (56% vs 47% vs 36%; P = .007). Five-year relapse/progression was lower in MAC than in RIC/NMAC (26% vs 38% vs 40%; P = .031). Five-year progression-free survival (15%-25%) and overall survival (18%-26%) did not differ significantly between the cohorts. In multivariate analysis, NMAC and more recent transplant year were associated with lower NRM, whereas a lower Karnofsky performance score (< 90), prior relapse resistant to therapy, and use of unrelated donors were associated with higher NRM. NMAC transplants, no prior use of rituximab, and prior relapse resistant to therapy were associated with a greater risk of relapse/progression. In conclusion, allotransplantation with RIC or NMAC induces long-term progression-free survival in selected DLBCL patients with a lower risk of NRM but with higher risk of lymphoma progression or relapse.
Summary
We report outcomes after myeloablative haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐matched sibling donors in 67 patients with sickle cell disease transplanted ...between 1989 and 2002. The most common indications for transplantation were stroke and recurrent vaso‐occlusive crisis in 38% and 37% of patients respectively. The median age at transplantation was 10 years and 67% of patients had received >10 red blood cell transfusions before HCT. Twenty‐seven percent of patients had a poor performance score at transplantation. Ninety‐four percent received busulfan and cyclophosphamide‐containing conditioning regimens and bone marrow was the predominant source of donor cells. Most patients achieved haematopoietic recovery and no deaths occurred during the early post‐transplant period. Rates of acute and chronic graft‐versus‐host disease were 10% and 22% respectively. Sixty‐four of 67 patients are alive with 5‐year probabilities of disease‐free and overall survival of 85% and 97% respectively. Nine patients had graft failure with recovery of sickle erythropoiesis, eight of who had recurrent sickle‐related events. This report confirms and extends earlier reports that HCT from HLA‐matched related donors offers a very high survival rate, with few transplant‐related complications and the elimination of sickle‐related complications in the majority of patients who undergo this therapy.
We compared outcomes in 603 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) after HLA-haploidentical relative (n = 176) and HLA-matched unrelated (n = 427) donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) ...from 2012 to 2017, using the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research database. All transplantations used reduced-intensity conditioning regimens. Total-body irradiation plus cyclophosphamide and fludarabine was the predominant regimen for HLA-haploidentical relative donor HCT, and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was uniformly posttransplantation cyclophosphamide, calcineurin inhibitor, and mycophenolate. Fludarabine with busulfan or melphalan was the predominant regimen for HLA-matched unrelated donor HCT, and GVHD prophylaxis was calcineurin inhibitor with mycophenolate or methotrexate. Results of multivariate analysis revealed higher relapse (hazard ratio HR, 1.56; P = .0055; 2-year relapse rate, 48% vs 33%) and lower disease-free survival (DFS) rates after HLA-haploidentical relative donor HCT (HR, 1.29; P = .042; 2-year DFS, 29% vs 36%). However, overall survival (OS) rates did not differ between donor type (HR, 0.94; P = .65; 2-year OS, 46% for HLA-haploidentical and 44% for HLA-matched unrelated donor HCT) because of mortality associated with chronic GVHD. Acute grade 2 to 4 GVHD (HR, 0.44; P < .0001) and chronic GVHD (HR, 0.36; P < .0001) were lower after HLA-haploidentical relative donor HCT. By 2 years, probability of death resulting from chronic GVHD was lower after HLA-haploidentical relative compared with HLA-matched unrelated donor HCT (6% vs 21%), negating any potential survival advantage from better relapse control. Both donor types extend access to transplantation for patients with MDS; strategies for better relapse control are desirable for HLA-haploidentical relative donor HCT, and effective GVHD prophylaxis regimens are needed for unrelated donor HCT.
•MDS patients undergoing transplantation with haploidentical relative and matched unrelated donors had similar OS rates.•Relapse was more common in patients with haploidentical donors; chronic GVHD occurred more often in those with matched unrelated donors.
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Reported risk factors for bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplant recipients come from modest-sized studies and are limited to experiences of single ...institutions. We sought to identify risk factors for BO using data from the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry.
Registry data on 6,275 adult patients with leukemia who received human leukocyte antigen-identical sibling transplants from 1989 to 1997 and survived at least 100 days after transplantation were evaluated for the study. Risk factors for BO were analyzed using proportional hazards regression.
Seventy-six patients were found to have BO, with an incidence rate of 1.7% at 2 years after transplantation. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of median time to onset of BO was 431 days. Histologic evaluation was performed in 36 patients (47%). In 28 patients (37%), diagnosis was based on pulmonary function tests, CT scans of the chest, or a combination of both. On multivariate analysis, the factors that were associated with an increased risk for BO included the following: peripheral blood-derived stem cell, a busulfan-based conditioning regimen, interval from diagnosis to transplant ≥ 14 months, female donor to male recipient sex match, prior interstitial pneumonitis, and an episode of moderate-to-severe acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD).
In addition to corroborating previously reported risk factors, such as acute GVHD and a busulfan-based conditioning regimen, we found that peripheral blood stem-cell transplantation, long duration to transplant, female donor to male recipient, and a prior episode of interstitial pneumonitis are associated with an increased risk for BO.
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Background
Current literature suggests that the presence and quality of social support may provide meaningful benefits in overall survival of HCT recipients. Further, studies in general oncology ...and renal transplantation population suggest that married patients have favorable outcomes. Caregivers of HCT recipients are an important source of both instrumental and emotional support, and a reasonable surrogate for presence of social support. Using data from Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), we examined the potential influence of marital status (surrogate for caregiver) at the time of HCT on outcomes of HCT.
Methods
Patients, >40 years of age who underwent either autologous or allogeneic-HCT from 2008 to 2015 were included. Marital status was defined as either 1) Married, 2) Single, never married, 3) Separated/divorced, and 4) Widowed. The probability of OS at 5 years, Grade 2-4 acute GVHD at 100 days and chronic GVHD at 2 years were estimated as appropriate using the Kaplan-Meier method with the log-rank test used for univariate comparisons. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the association of marital status with these outcomes, while adjusting for clinical and sociodemographic variables.
Results
We identified 10,226 allogeneic and 5,714 autologous HCT patients; the median follow-up of survivors was 37 months (range 1-102 months) and 40 months (range 1-106 months) respectively. In the allogeneic population, there were n=7,999 married, n=741 single, n=1,175 separated/divorced and n=311 widowed patients. There were n=4,308, n=478, n=695 and n=233 respectively in the autologous population. The baseline characteristics amongst the 4 groups of marital status were comparable. In the allogeneic population, the 5-year probability of OS, 100-day Grade 2-4 acute GVHD, 2-year probability of chronic GVHD were 38% 95%CI (36-39%), 16% 95%CI (15-17%)and 46% 95%CI (45-47%) respectively; while the 5-year probability of OS in the autologous population was 63% 95%CI (61-64%).
When compared with married patients, single, separated/divorced and widowed patients were not at an increased risk of death HR 1.09, 95%CI (0.98-1.2); HR 1.01, 95%CI (0.93-1.09); HR 1.09, 95%CI (0.98-1.2) in the allogeneic setting. Similarly, there was no association of marital status and OS in the autologous setting HR 1.10, 95%CI (0.92-1.33); HR 1.17, 95%CI (1.01-1.36); HR 1.08, 95%CI (0.86-1.37) respectively. In contrast, marital status in the allogeneic setting was associated with an increased risk of grade 2-4 acute GVHD in patients who are divorced/separated as compared to married patients HR 1.13, 95%CI (1.03-1.24) but not chronic GVHD HR 0.90, 95%CI (0.80-1.02); HR 0.94, 95%CI (0.86-1.04); HR 0.82, 95%CI (0.68-0.99) respectively. We did not identify an interaction between marital status and gender.
Conclusions
Our data suggest the marital status in patients undergoing either autologous or allogeneic HCT is not associated with overall survival or chronic GVHD, while the risk of acute GVHD maybe increased in patients who are divorced/separated. Taken together, the effect of marital status on post-HCT outcomes is negligible when other patient, disease and transplant variables are considered. Alternatively, marital status maybe an imperfect marker for positive social support. Future research should consider measuring social support using validated scales and assess health related quality of life together with health care utilization outcomes to better appreciate the potential impact of social support.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.