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Perturbations of mesenchymal stromal cells after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation predispose for bone marrow graft-versus-host-disease
Krüger, T., Wehner, R., Herbig, M., Kräter, M., Kramer, M., Middeke, J. M., Stölzel, F., List, C., Egger-Heidrich, K., Teipel, R., et al
Frontiers in immunology. 2022;13:1005554
Abstract
Functional impairment of the bone marrow (BM) niche has been suggested as a major reason for prolonged cytopenia and secondary graft failure after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT). Because mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) serve as multipotent progenitors for several niche components in the BM, they might play a key role in this process. We used collagenase digested trephine biopsies to directly quantify MSCs in 73 patients before (n = 18) and/or after alloHCT (n = 65). For the first time, we demonstrate that acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD, n = 39) is associated with a significant decrease in MSC numbers. MSC reduction can be observed even before the clinical onset of aGvHD (n = 10). Assessing MSCs instantly after biopsy collection revealed phenotypic and functional differences depending on the occurrence of aGvHD. These differences vanished during ex vivo expansion. The MSC endotypes observed revealed an enhanced population of donor-derived classical dendritic cells type 1 and alloreactive T cells as the causing agent for compartmental inflammation and MSC damage before clinical onset of aGvHD was ascertained. In conclusion, MSCs endotypes may constitute a predisposing conductor of alloreactivity after alloHCT preceding the clinical diagnosis of aGvHD.
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2.
Determinants of survival in myelofibrosis patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
Hernandez-Boluda, J. C., Pereira, A., Kroger, N., Beelen, D., Robin, M., Bornhauser, M., Angelucci, E., Vitek, A., Blau, I. W., Niittyvuopio, R., et al
Leukemia. 2020
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
We aimed to evaluate the determinants of survival in myelofibrosis patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) and to describe factors predicting the main post-HCT complications. This retrospective study by the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation included 2916 myelofibrosis patients who underwent first allo-HCT from an HLA-identical sibling or unrelated donor between 2000 and 2016. After a median follow-up of 4.7 years from transplant, projected median survival of the series was 5.3 years. Factors independently associated with increased mortality were age ≥ 60 years and Karnofsky Performance Status <90% at transplant, and occurrence of graft failure, grades III-IV acute graft-vs.-host disease (aGVHD), and disease progression/relapse during follow-up. The opposing effects of chronic graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) on non-relapse mortality and relapse incidence resulted in a neutral influence on survival. Graft failure increased in unrelated donor recipients and decreased with myeloablative conditioning (MAC) and negative donor/recipient cytomegalovirus serostatus. Risk of grades III-IV aGVHD was higher with unrelated donors and decreased with MAC. Relapse incidence tended to be higher in patients with intermediate-2/high-risk DIPSS categories and to decrease in CALR-mutated patients. Acute and chronic GVHD reduced the subsequent risk of relapse. This information has potential implications for patient counseling and clinical decision-making.
PICO Summary
Population
Myelofibrosis patients (n=2916)
Intervention
First allo-HCT from an HLA-identical sibling or unrelated donor between 2000 and 2016
Comparison
None
Outcome
After a median follow-up of 4.7 years from transplant, projected median survival of the series was 5.3 years. Factors independently associated with increased mortality were age >/= 60 years and Karnofsky Performance Status <90% at transplant, and occurrence of graft failure, grades III-IV acute graft-vs.-host disease (aGVHD), and disease progression/relapse during follow-up. The opposing effects of chronic graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) on non-relapse mortality and relapse incidence resulted in a neutral influence on survival. Graft failure increased in unrelated donor recipients and decreased with myeloablative conditioning (MAC) and negative donor/recipient cytomegalovirus serostatus. Risk of grades III-IV aGVHD was higher with unrelated donors and decreased with MAC. Relapse incidence tended to be higher in patients with intermediate-2/high-risk DIPSS categories and to decrease in CALR-mutated patients. Acute and chronic GVHD reduced the subsequent risk of relapse.
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3.
Outcome of Patients with Fanconi Anemia developing myelodysplasia and acute leukemia who received Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A retrospective analysis on Behalf of EBMT group
Giardino, S., Peffault de Latour, R., Aljurf, M., Eikema, D. J., Bosman, P., Bertrand, Y., Tbakhi, A., Holter, W., Bornhauser, M., Rossig, C., et al
American journal of hematology. 2020
Abstract
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is curative for bone marrow failure in patients with Fanconi anemia (FA), but the presence of a malignant transformation is associated with a poor prognosis and the management of these patients is still challenging. We analyzed outcome of 74 FA patients with a diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 35), acute leukemia (n = 35) or with cytogenetic abnormalities (n = 4), who underwent allo-HSCT from 1999 to 2016 in EBMT network. Type of diagnosis, pre-HSCT cytoreductive therapies and related toxicities, disease status pre-HSCT, donor type, and conditioning regimen were considered as main variables potentially influencing outcome. The 5-year OS and EFS were 42% (30-53%) and 39% (27-51%), respectively. Patients transplanted in CR showed better OS compared with those transplanted in presence of an active malignant disease (OS:71%[48-95] vs 37% [24-50],P = .04), while none of the other variables considered had an impact. Twenty-two patients received pre-HSCT cytoreduction and 9/22 showed a grade 3-4 toxicity, without any lethal event or negative influence on survival after HSCT(OS:toxicity pre-HSCT 48% [20-75%] vs no-toxicity 51% [25-78%],P = .98). The cumulative incidence of day-100 grade II-IV a-GvHD and of 5-year c-GvHD were 38% (26-50%) and 40% (28-52%). Non-relapse-related mortality and incidence of relapse at 5-years were 40% (29-52%) and 21% (11-30%) respectively, without any significant impact of the tested variables. Causes of death were transplant-related events in most patients (34 out of the 42 deaths, 81%). This analysis confirms the poor outcome of transformed FA patients and identifies the importance of achieving CR pre-HSCT, suggesting that, in a newly diagnosed transformed FA patient, a cytoreductive approach pre-HSCT should be considered if a donor have been secured. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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4.
Comparing transplant outcomes in ALL patients after haploidentical with PTCy or matched unrelated donor transplantation
Al Malki, M. M., Yang, D., Labopin, M., Afanasyev, B., Angelucci, E., Bashey, A., Socie, G., Karduss-Urueta, A., Helbig, G., Bornhauser, M., et al
Blood advances. 2020;4(9):2073-2083
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
We compared outcomes of 1461 adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from a haploidentical (n = 487) or matched unrelated donor (MUD; n = 974) between January 2005 and June 2018. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was posttransplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy), calcineurin inhibitor (CNI), and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for haploidentical, and CNI with MMF or methotrexate with/without antithymoglobulin for MUDs. Haploidentical recipients were matched (1:2 ratio) with MUD controls for sex, conditioning intensity, disease stage, Philadelphia-chromosome status, and cytogenetic risk. In the myeloablative setting, day +28 neutrophil recovery was similar between haploidentical (87%) and MUD (88%) (P = .11). Corresponding rates after reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) were 84% and 88% (P = .47). The 3-month incidence of grade II-IV acute GVHD (aGVHD) and 3-year chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was similar after haploidentical compared with MUD: myeloablative conditioning, 33% vs 34% (P = .46) for aGVHD and 29% vs 31% for cGVHD (P = .58); RIC, 31% vs 30% (P = .06) for aGVHD and 24% vs 29% for cGVHD (P = .86). Among patients receiving myeloablative regimens, 3-year probabilities of overall survival were 44% and 51% with haploidentical and MUD (P = .56). Corresponding rates after RIC were 43% and 42% (P = .6). In this large multicenter case-matched retrospective analysis, despite the limitations of a registry-based study (ie, unavailability of key elements such as minimal residual disease testing), our analysis indicated that outcomes of patients with ALL undergoing HCT from a haploidentical donor were comparable with 8 of 8 MUD transplantations.
Clinical Commentary
Dr. Julia Wolf, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
What is known?
Allogeneic stem cell transplant is a potentially curative treatment option for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Transplant outcomes are, amongst other factors, dependent on optimal donor selection; despite a plethora of recent advances, donor availability is an area of unmet need for many patients. A fully HLA matched sibling donor is the preferred donor choice but is available in <30% of patients. Several studies have shown that comparable results can be achieved with a fully matched unrelated donor (MUD), but availability can be as low as 20% in non-Caucasian individuals. Haploidentical donor options are available for the vast majority of patients but historically their utility was limited by high rates of GvHD, treatment related morbidity and mortality and graft rejection. The addition of post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PtCy), calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) and mycofenolate mofetil (MMF) as GvHD prophylaxis has reduced these risks and is now a frequently employed approach for haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HaploSCT) making it an attractive alternative to conventional donor transplant.
Several recent studies have compared MUD alloSCT and HaploSCT approaches in ALL in recent years. Most notably this has included an analysis of the European Bone Marrow Transplant (EBMT) group registry which included 1234 patients with ALL and shows comparable outcomes between HaploSCT and MUD alloSCT.
What did this paper set out to examine?
This retrospective multicentre cohort study aims to compare outcomes of HaploSCT & PtCy with MUD alloSCT in ALL in terms of engraftment, acute and chronic graft versus host disease (GvHD) incidence and severity, relapse free survival (RFS), non-relapse mortality (NRM) and overall survival (OS).
It is the first study to explicitly compare haploidentical allogeneic stem cell transplant (HaploSCT) with matched unrelated donor allogeneic stem cell transplant (MUD alloSCT) in terms of conditioning intensity, Philadelphia chromosome status and graft source. It also provides additional extensive, multinational data with matched pair analysis on outcomes of patients in both groups.
What did they show?
The authors compared data from 1461 adult patients (HaploSCT = 487 vs MUD = 974). Data from two separate registries was used: the EBMT registry alone was used for MUD alloSCT while the Haploidentical Transplant and Cellular Therapy Research Consortium (TCT-RC) was used in combination with Acute Leukaemia Working Party subgroup of the EBMT registry data for assessment of HaploSCT. The reason for using two databases is not explicitly stated although it is believed that this was done to increase sample size in the HaploSCT cohort.
Patients >18 years old with ALL over a 13.5-year period from January 2005 to June 2018 receiving their first alloSCT were included in the analysis. Exclusion criteria were fairly selected. GvHD prophylaxis was with PtCy, CNI and MMF in the HaploSCT group and with CNI and methotrexate or MMF in the MUD group. 64% of MUD patients also received ATG. Cohorts were matched at 1:2 (HaploSCT : MUD) for sex, cytogenetic risk, Philadelphia chromosome status, disease stage and intensity of conditioning (reduced intensity vs myeloablative). Statistical analysis was appropriate for the question to be answered.
RESULTS: HaploSCT and MUD alloSCT were comparable in terms of neutrophil engraftment, RFS and OS regardless of conditioning intensity, Philadelphia chromosome status and graft source. 3-year OS was 44% in the HaploSCT group vs 51% in the MUD group using myeloablative conditioning (p=5.56) with rates of 43% (HaploSCT) and 42% (MUD) for reduced intensity conditioning (p=5.6).
The overall incidence of acute and chronic GvHD was similar between the groups but there was an increased incidence in grade III-IV GvHD in HaploSCT when peripheral blood stem cells were used. Additionally, mortality form GvHD was higher in the MUD group. This is in keeping with results reported in the literature.
What are the implications for practice and for future work?
HaploSCT is becoming an increasingly attractive option for patients without matched sibling transplant. The comparable overall survival and now much more manageable GvHD risk will afford a previously difficult to manage cohort of patients a further option of curative treatment.
This study adds to the growing evidence base but did have some limitations. Firstly, the study is retrospective and uses registry-based data. While the registries used are of high quality, there are inherent concerns about missing data points and differences between the two databases used. The authors agreed that the variability of the condition regimes used added a further layer of complexity.
Prospective data with intention to treat analysis is required to further assess the comparability of HaploSCT and MUD for ALL patients.
PICO Summary
Population
Adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (n=1461)
Intervention
HSCT from a haploidentical donor (n = 487)
Comparison
HSCT from a matched unrelated donor (n = 974)
Outcome
In the myeloablative setting, day +28 neutrophil recovery was similar between haploidentical (87%) and MUD (88%). Corresponding rates after reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) were 84% and 88%. The 3-month incidence of grade II-IV acute GVHD (aGVHD) and 3-year chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was similar after haploidentical compared with MUD: myeloablative conditioning, 33% vs 34% for aGVHD and 29% vs 31% for cGVHD; RIC, 31% vs 30% for aGVHD and 24% vs 29% for cGVHD. Among patients receiving myeloablative regimens, 3-year probabilities of overall survival were 44% and 51% with haploidentical and MUD. Corresponding rates after RIC were 43% and 42%.
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5.
Sorafenib Maintenance After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Acute Myeloid Leukemia With FLT3-Internal Tandem Duplication Mutation (SORMAIN)
Burchert, A., Bug, G., Fritz, L. V., Finke, J., Stelljes, M., Rollig, C., Wollmer, E., Wasch, R., Bornhauser, M., Berg, T., et al
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. 2020;:Jco1903345
Abstract
PURPOSE Despite undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT), patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with internal tandem duplication mutation in the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 gene (FLT3-ITD) have a poor prognosis, frequently relapse, and die as a result of AML. It is currently unknown whether a maintenance therapy using FLT3 inhibitors, such as the multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib, improves outcome after HCT. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind phase II trial (SORMAIN; German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00000591), 83 adult patients with FLT3-ITD-positive AML in complete hematologic remission after HCT were randomly assigned to receive for 24 months either the multitargeted and FLT3-kinase inhibitor sorafenib (n = 43) or placebo (n = 40 placebo). Relapse-free survival (RFS) was the primary endpoint of this trial. Relapse was defined as relapse or death, whatever occurred first. RESULTS With a median follow-up of 41.8 months, the hazard ratio (HR) for relapse or death in the sorafenib group versus placebo group was 0.39 (95% CI, 0.18 to 0.85; log-rank P = .013). The 24-month RFS probability was 53.3% (95% CI, 0.36 to 0.68) with placebo versus 85.0% (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.93) with sorafenib (HR, 0.256; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.65; log-rank P = .002). Exploratory data show that patients with undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD) before HCT and those with detectable MRD after HCT derive the strongest benefit from sorafenib. CONCLUSION Sorafenib maintenance therapy reduces the risk of relapse and death after HCT for FLT3-ITD-positive AML.
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6.
Outcome of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in myeloproliferative neoplasm, unclassifiable: a retrospective study by the Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the EBMT
McLornan, D. P., Malpassuti, V., Lippinkhof-Kozijn, A., Potter, V., Beelen, D., Bunjes, D., Sengeloev, H., Radujkovic, A., Passweg, J., Chalandon, Y., et al
British journal of haematology. 2020
Abstract
Myeloproliferative Neoplasm (MPN), unclassifiable (MPN-U) is a heterogeneous disease with regards to both clinical phenotype and disease course. Patients may initially be asymptomatic or present with leucocytosis or thrombocytosis, anaemia, progressive splenomegaly, constitutional symptom, thromboses or accelerated/blastic phase disease. Treatment strategies are variable and there are no widely accepted consensus management guidelines for MNU-U. Allogeneic Haematopoietic Cell Transplantation (allo-HCT) remains the only curative strategy yet outcomes, to date, are not well defined. We hereby report on the largest retrospective study of patients with MPN-U undergoing allo-HCT, highlighting the potentially curative role and providing clinicians with robust engraftment, GvHD and outcome data to facilitate patient discussion.
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7.
External Validation of Models for KIR2DS1/KIR3DL1-informed Selection of Hematopoietic Cell Donors fails
Schetelig, J., Baldauf, H., Heidenreich, F., Massalski, C., Frank, S., Sauter, J., Stelljes, M., Ayuk, F., Bethge, W. A., Bug, G., et al
Blood. 2020
Abstract
Several studies suggest that harnessing Natural Killer (NK) cell reactivity mediated through Killer cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR) could reduce the risk of relapse after allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT). Based on one promising model, information on KIR2DS1 and KIR3DL1 and their cognate ligands can be used to classify donors as KIR-advantageous or disadvantageous. This study was aimed at externally validating this model in unrelated donor HCT. The impact of the predictor on Overall Survival (OS) and relapse incidence was tested in a Cox regression model adjusted for patient age, a modified disease risk index, performance status, donor age, HLA-match, sex-match, CMV-match, conditioning intensity, type of T-cell depletion and graft type. Data from 2222 patients with AML or MDS were analyzed. KIR genes were typed using high-resolution amplicon-based next generation sequencing. In univariable analyses and subgroup analyses, OS and the cumulative incidence of relapse of patients with a KIR-advantageous donor were comparable to patients with a KIR-disadvantageous donor. The adjusted hazard ratio from the multivariable Cox regression model was 0.99 (Wald-test: p=0.93) for OS and 1.04 (Wald-test: p=0.78) for relapse incidence. We also tested the impact of activating donor KIR2DS1 and inhibition by KIR3DL1 separately, but did not find a significant impact on OS and the risk of relapse. Thus, our study shows that the proposed model does not universally predict NK-mediated disease control. Deeper knowledge of NK-mediated alloreactivity is necessary to predict its contribution to graft-versus leukemia reactions and to eventually utilize KIR-genotype information for donor selection.
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8.
Second allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a study on behalf of the Acute Leukaemia Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Nagler, A., Labopin, M., Dholaria, B., Finke, J., Brecht, A., Schanz, U., Niittyvuopio, R., Neubauer, A., Bornhauser, M., Santarone, S., et al
British journal of haematology. 2019
Abstract
Although second allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT2) is a therapeutic option for patients relapsing after first HCT (allo-HCT1), there is limited data on allo-HCT2 in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). We retrospectively studied 245 patients receiving allo-HCT2 as a salvage treatment for relapse following allo-HCT1 between the 2000 and 2017. The median age at allo-HCT2 was 34.6 years (range: 18-74). One hundred and one patients (41%) received sibling donor and 144 (59%) unrelated donor allo-HCT2. Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) grade II-IV and III-IV occurred in 33% and 17% of the patients, respectively. The incidence of 2-year total and extensive chronic GVHD was 38% and 19%, respectively. The 2- and 5-year cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality, relapse incidence, leukaemia-free survival, overall survival and GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) were 24% and 26%, 56% and 62%, 20% and 12%, 30% and 14% and 12% & 7%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with overall survival were age, time from allo-HCT1 to relapse, conditioning for allo-HCT1, Karnofsky score at allo-HCT2 and donor type for allo-HCT2. In conclusion, outcomes of allo-HCT2 in ALL patients were poor, with only 14% overall survival and 7% GRFS at 5 years with very high relapse incidence.
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9.
Impact of primary disease on outcome after allogeneic stem cell transplantation for transformed secondary acute leukaemia
Kroger, N., Eikema, D. J., Koster, L., Beelen, D., de Wreede, L. C., Finke, J., Koenecke, C., Niederwieser, D., Bornhauser, M., Schoenland, S., et al
British journal of haematology. 2019
Abstract
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) can progress to secondary acute myeloid leukaemia (sAML). We compared the outcome of 4214 sAML patients who received allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) from an unrelated (62%) or human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling donor (38%) according the underlying disease: MDS (n = 3541), CMML (n = 251) or MPN (n = 422). After a median follow up of 46.5 months, the estimated 3-year progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for the entire group was 36% (34-37%) and 41% (40-43%), respectively. The cumulative incidence of relapse and non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 37% (35-39%) and 27% (26-29%), respectively. In a multivariable analysis for OS, besides age (P < 0.001), unrelated donor (P = 0.011), cytomegalovirus +/- constellation (P = 0.007), Karnofsky index ≤ 80 (P < 0.001), remission status (P < 0.001), peripheral blood as stem cell source (P = 0.009), sAML from MPN (P = 0.003) remained a significant factor in comparison to sAML from MDS, while worse outcome of sAML from CMML did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.06). This large registry study demonstrates a major impact of the underlying disease on outcome of sAML after allo-HSCT.
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10.
Modified DHAP regimen in the salvage treatment of refractory or relapsed lymphomas
Kroschinsky, F., Rollig, D., Riemer, B., Kramer, M., Ordemann, R., Schetelig, J., Bornhauser, M., Ehninger, G., Hanel, M.
Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology. 2019
Abstract
BACKGROUND The combination of dexamethasone, high-dose cytarabine, and cisplatin (DHAP) is an established salvage regimen for lymphoma patients. We hypothesized that a modified administration schedule for cisplatin and cytarabine results in lower toxicity and improved efficacy. METHODS We retrospectively analysed 119 patients with relapsed or refractory, aggressive, or indolent B-cell lymphomas, mantle-cell lymphomas, peripheral T-cell lymphomas, or Hodgkin's lymphomas who were treated with the modified DHAP (mDHAP) regimen (dexamethasone 40 mg 15 min-i.v. infusion, days 1-4; cytarabine 2 x 0.5 g/m(2) 1 h-i.v. infusion, days 1-4; cisplatin 25 mg/m(2) 24 h-i.v. infusion, days 1-4). Responding and eligible patients underwent stem-cell transplantation. RESULTS In total, 185 treatment cycles were evaluable. Severe myelosuppression was the main toxicity occurring in 90% of the cycles. Febrile neutropenia or documented infection was found in less than 40%. Two patients died related to treatment (TRM, 1.7%). Nephrotoxicity did not exceed CTC grade 3, which occurred in four cycles only (2.2%). Complete (CR) or partial (PR) responses after mDHAP were documented in 16% and 39% (overall response rate 55%). Harvest of autologous stem cells was successful in 94 (79%) patients and 85 patients (71%) proceeded to stem-cell transplantation. The median overall and progression-free survival was 50.8 and 25.8 months. CONCLUSIONS An improvement in efficacy could not be observed after modified DHAP regimen; however, manageable toxicity and reduced renal complications suggest further investigation. The study, however, also underlines the need for new concepts in the management of advanced and high-risk lymphomas.