Allogeneic blood or bone-marrow transplantation (alloBMT) is a potentially curative treatment for a variety of haematological malignancies and nonmalignant diseases. Historically, human leukocyte ...antigen (HLA)-matched siblings have been the preferred source of donor cells owing to superior outcomes compared with alloBMT using other donors. Although only approximately one-third of patients have an HLA-matched sibling, nearly all patients have HLA-haploidentical related donors. Early studies using HLA-haploidentical alloBMT resulted in unacceptably high rates of graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), leading to high nonrelapse mortality and consequently poor survival. Several novel approaches to HLA-haploidentical alloBMT have yielded encouraging results with high rates of successful engraftment, effective GVHD control and favourable outcomes. In fact, outcomes of several retrospective comparative studies seem similar to those seen using other allograft sources, including those of HLA-matched-sibling alloBMT. In this Review, we provide an overview of the three most-developed approaches to HLA-haploidentical alloBMT: T-cell depletion with 'megadose' CD34(+) cells; granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-primed allografts combined with intensive pharmacological immunosuppression, including antithymocyte globulin; and high-dose, post-transplantation cyclophosphamide. We review the preclinical and biological data supporting each approach, results from major clinical studies, and completed or ongoing clinical studies comparing these approaches with other alloBMT platforms.
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) is a potentially curative therapy for many hematologic and immunologic diseases. Further, partial or full donor hematopoietic chimerism ...following alloSCT may be sufficient to guarantee immunologic tolerance to solid organs from the same donor, obviating any requirement for prolonged pharmacologic immunosuppression. Despite alloSCT's potential, the procedure is beset by two major limitations. The first relates to the procedure's toxicity, including conditioning regimen toxicity, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and infection. The second limitation is the lack of histocompatible donors. A human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched sibling or unrelated donor cannot be identified expeditiously for up to 40% of patients. Historically, alloSCT from partially HLA-mismatched, or HLA-haploidentical, relatives has been complicated by unacceptably high incidences of graft rejection, severe GVHD, and non-relapse mortality. Recently, our groups have developed a method to selectively deplete alloreactive cells in vivo by administering high doses of cyclophosphamide in a narrow window after transplantation. Using high-dose, post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PT/Cy), crossing the HLA barrier in alloSCT is now feasible and donors can be found for nearly all patients. This review discusses the history of HLA-haploidentical SCT, recent clinical results, and immunologic mechanisms of action of high-dose PT/Cy for prevention of graft rejection and GVHD.
The number of HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplants continues to increase worldwide due to recent improvements in outcomes, allowing more patients with hematological malignancies and ...non-malignant disorders to benefit from this procedure and have a chance to cure their disease. Despite these encouraging results, questions remain as multiple donors are usually available for transplantation, and choosing the best HLA-haploidentical donor for transplantation remains a challenge. Several approaches to haploidentical transplantation have been developed over time and, based on the graft received, can be grouped as follows: T-cell depleted haploidentical transplants, either complete or partial, or with T-cell replete grafts, performed with post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, or G-CSF-primed bone marrow graft and enhanced GVHD prophylaxis. Carefully selecting the donor can help optimize transplant outcomes for recipients of haploidentical donor transplants. Variables usually considered in the donor selection include presence of donor-specific antibodies in the recipient, donor age, donor/recipient gender and ABO combinations, and immunogenic variables, such as natural killer cell alloreactivity or KIR haplotype. Here we provide a comprehensive review of available evidence for selecting haploidentical donors for transplantation, and summarize the recommendations from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) on donor selection for different transplant platforms.
Results of 2 parallel phase 2 trials of transplantation of unrelated umbilical cord blood (UCB) or bone marrow (BM) from HLA-haploidentical relatives provided equipoise for direct comparison of these ...donor sources. Between June 2012 and June 2018, 368 patients aged 18 to 70 years with chemotherapy-sensitive lymphoma or acute leukemia in remission were randomly assigned to undergo UCB (n = 186) or haploidentical (n = 182) transplant. Reduced-intensity conditioning comprised total-body irradiation with cyclophosphamide and fludarabine for both donor types. Graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis for UCB transplantation was cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and for haploidentical transplantation, posttransplant cyclophosphamide, tacrolimus, and MMF. The primary end point was 2-year progression-free survival (PFS). Treatment groups had similar age, sex, self-reported ethnic origin, performance status, disease, and disease status at randomization. Two-year PFS was 35% (95% confidence interval CI, 28% to 42%) compared with 41% (95% CI, 34% to 48%) after UCB and haploidentical transplants, respectively (P = .41). Prespecified analysis of secondary end points recorded higher 2-year nonrelapse mortality after UCB, 18% (95% CI, 13% to 24%), compared with haploidentical transplantation, 11% (95% CI, 6% to 16%), P = .04. This led to lower 2-year overall survival (OS) after UCB compared with haploidentical transplantation, 46% (95% CI, 38-53) and 57% (95% CI 49% to 64%), respectively (P = .04). The trial did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference in the primary end point, 2-year PFS, between the donor sources. Although both donor sources extend access to reduced-intensity transplantation, analyses of secondary end points, including OS, favor haploidentical BM donors. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01597778.
Graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD, is a major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Here, we describe a novel ...method for preventing GVHD after alloHSCT using high-dose, post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (Cy). Post-transplantation Cy promotes tolerance in alloreactive host and donor T cells, leading to suppression of both graft rejection and GVHD after alloHSCT. High-dose, post-transplantation Cy facilitates partially HLA-mismatched HSCT without severe GVHD and is effective as sole prophylaxis of GVHD after HLA-matched alloHSCT. By reducing the morbidity and mortality of alloHSCT, post-transplantation Cy may expand the applications of this therapy to the treatment of autoimmune diseases and non-malignant hematologic disorders such as sickle cell disease.
Summary
Tolerance induction and alloreactivity can be applied to the clinic for the transplantation of solid organs and in the treatment of human cancers respectively. Hematopoietic chimerism, the ...stable coexistence of host and donor blood cells, guarantees that a solid organ from the same donor will be tolerated without a requirement for maintenance immunosuppression, and it also serves as a platform for the adoptive immunotherapy of hematologic malignancies using donor lymphocyte infusions. This review focuses on clinically relevant methods for inducing hematopoietic chimerism and transplantation tolerance, with a special emphasis on reduced intensity transplantation conditioning and high dose, post‐transplantation cyclophosphamide to prevent graft rejection and graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD). Reduced intensity transplantation regimens permit a transient cooperation between donor and host immune systems to eradicate malignancy without producing GVHD. Their favorable toxicity profile also enables the application of allogeneic stem cell transplantation to treat non‐malignant disorders of hematopoiesis and to induce tolerance for solid organ transplantation.
The Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network conducted 2 parallel multicenter phase 2 trials for individuals with leukemia or lymphoma and no suitable related donor. Reduced intensity ...conditioning (RIC) was used with either unrelated double umbilical cord blood (dUCB) or HLA-haploidentical related donor bone marrow (Haplo-marrow) transplantation. For both trials, the transplantation conditioning regimen incorporated cyclophosphamide, fludarabine, and 200 cGy of total body irradiation. The 1-year probabilities of overall and progression-free survival were 54% and 46%, respectively, after dUCB transplantation (n = 50) and 62% and 48%, respectively, after Haplo-marrow transplantation (n = 50). The day +56 cumulative incidence of neutrophil recovery was 94% after dUCB and 96% after Haplo-marrow transplantation. The 100-day cumulative incidence of grade II-IV acute GVHD was 40% after dUCB and 32% after Haplo-marrow transplantation. The 1-year cumulative incidences of nonrelapse mortality and relapse after dUCB transplantation were 24% and 31%, respectively, with corresponding results of 7% and 45%, respectively, after Haplo-marrow transplantation. These multicenter studies confirm the utility of dUCB and Haplo-marrow as alternative donor sources and set the stage for a multicenter randomized clinical trial to assess the relative efficacy of these 2 strategies. The trials are registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov under NCT00864227 (BMT CTN 0604) and NCT00849147 (BMT CTN 0603).
Allogeneic marrow transplantation can cure sickle cell disease; however, HLA-matched donors are difficult to find, and the toxicities of myeloablative conditioning are prohibitive for most adults ...with this disease. We developed a nonmyeloablative bone marrow transplantation platform using related, including HLA-haploidentical, donors for patients with sickle cell disease. The regimen consisted of antithymocyte globulin, fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and total body irradiation, and graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis with posttransplantation high-dose cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, and tacrolimus or sirolimus. After screening 19 patients, we transplanted 17, 14 from HLA-haploidentical and 3 from HLA-matched related donors. Eleven patients engrafted durably. With a median follow-up of 711 days (minimal follow up 224 days), 10 patients are asymptomatic, and 6 patients are off immunosupression. Only 1 patient developed skin-only acute graft-versus-host disease that resolved without any therapy; no mortality was seen. Nonmyeloablative conditioning with posttransplantation high-dose cyclophosphamide expands the donor pool, making marrow transplantation feasible for most patients with sickle cell disease, and is associated with a low risk of complications, even with haploidentical related donors. Graft failure, 43% in haploidentical pairs, remains a major obstacle but may be acceptable in a fraction of patients if the majority can be cured without serious toxicities.
Composite endpoints that not only encompass mortality and relapse, but other critical post-transplant events such as graft-versus-host disease, are being increasingly utilized to quantify survival ...without significant morbidity after allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation. High-dose, post-transplantation cyclophosphamide reduces severe graft-versus-host disease with allogeneic marrow transplantation, making composite endpoints after this management particularly interesting. We retrospectively analyzed 684 adults with hematologic malignancies who received T-cell-replete bone marrow grafts and cyclophosphamide after myeloablative HLA-matched related (n=192) or unrelated (n=120), or non-myeloablative HLA-haploidentical (n=372) donor transplantation. The median follow up was 4 (range, 0.02-11.4) years. Graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival was defined as the time after transplantation without grade III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease, chronic graft-versus-host disease requiring systemic treatment, relapse, or death. Chronic graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival was defined as the time after transplantation without moderate or severe chronic graft-versus-host disease, relapse, or death. One-year graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival and chronic graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival estimates were, respectively, 47% (95% CI: 41-55%) and 53% (95% CI: 46-61%) after myeloablative HLA-matched related, 42% (95% CI: 34-52%) and 52% (95% CI: 44-62%) after myeloablative HLA-matched unrelated, and 45% (95% CI: 40-50%) and 50% (95% CI: 45-55%) after non-myeloablative HLA-haploidentical donor transplantation. In multivariable models, there were no differences in graft-versus-host disease-free, or chronic graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse-free survival after either myeloablative HLA-matched unrelated or non-myeloablative HLA-haploidentical, compared with myeloablative HLA-matched related donor transplantation. Although limited by inclusion of dissimilar cohorts, we found that post-transplantation cyclophosphamide-based platforms yield comparable composite endpoints across conditioning intensity, donor type, and HLA match.
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