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Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in the Management of Myelodysplastic Syndrome: An Evidence-Based Review from the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Committee on Practice Guidelines
DeFilipp, Z., Ciurea, S. O., Cutler, C., Robin, M., Warlick, E. D., Nakamura, R., Brunner, A. M., Dholaria, B., Walker, A. R., Kröger, N., et al
Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. 2023;29(2):71-81
Abstract
The sole curative therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Here this therapeutic modality is reviewed and critically evaluated in the context of the evidence. Specific criteria were used for searching the published literature and for grading the quality and strength of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations. A panel of MDS experts comprising transplantation and nontransplantation physicians developed consensus treatment recommendations. This review summarizes the standard MDS indications for HCT and addresses areas of controversy. Recent prospective trials have confirmed that allogeneic HCT confers survival benefits in patients with advanced or high-risk MDS compared with nontransplantation approaches, and the use of HCT is increasing in older patients with good performance status. However, patients with high-risk cytogenetic or molecular mutations remain at high risk for relapse. It is unknown whether administration of novel therapies before or after transplantation may decrease the risk of disease relapse in selected populations. Ongoing and future studies will investigate revised approaches to disease risk stratification, patient selection, and post-transplantation approaches to optimize allogeneic HCT outcomes for patients with MDS.
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2.
Once-Daily Foscarnet Is Effective for Human Herpesvirus 6 Reactivation after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Vittayawacharin, P., E'Leimat, G., Lee, B. J., Griffin, S., Doh, J., Nam, H., Blodget, E., Jeyakumar, D., Kongtim, P., Ciurea, S. O.
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2023;29(6):397.e1-397.e6
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) reactivation is common after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and is associated with higher mortality and increased transplantation-related complications. We hypothesized that preemptive treatment with a short course of foscarnet at a lower cutpoint of plasma HHV-6 viral load would be effective in treating early HHV-6 reactivation, preventing complications and precluding hospitalization of these patients. We reviewed outcomes of adult patients (age ≥18 years) who received preemptive treatment with once-daily foscarnet 60 to 90 mg/kg for 7 days for HHV-6 reactivation after allo-HSCT at our institution between May 2020 and November 2022. Plasma HHV-6 viral load was monitored by quantitative PCR twice monthly in the first 100 days post-transplantation and twice weekly after reactivation until resolution. Eleven patients with a median age of 46 years (range, 23 to 73 years) were included in the analysis. HSCT was performed with a haploidentical donor in 10 patients and with an HLA-matched related donor in 1 patient. The most common diagnosis was acute leukemia (9 patients). Myeloablative and reduced-intensity conditioning regimens were used in 4 and 7 patients, respectively. Ten of the 11 patients received post-transplantation cyclophosphamide-based graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis. The median follow-up was 440 days (range, 174 to 831 days), and the median time to HHV-6 reactivation was 22 days post-transplantation (range, 15 to 89 days). The median viral load at first reactivation was 3,100 copies/mL (range, 210 to 118,000 copies/mL), and the median peak viral load was 11,300 copies/mL (range, 600 to 983,000 copies/mL). All patients received a short course of foscarnet at either 90 mg/kg/day (n = 7) or 60 mg/kg/day (n = 4). In all patients, plasma HHV-6 DNA was undetectable at completion of 1 week of treatment. No HHV-6 encephalitis or pneumonitis occurred. All patients achieved neutrophil and platelet engraftment after a median of 16 days (range, 8 to 22 days) and 26 days (range, 14 to 168 days), respectively, with no secondary graft failure. No complications related to foscarnet administration were noted. One patient with very high HHV-6 viremia had recurrent reactivation and received a second course of foscarnet as an outpatient. A short course of once-daily foscarnet is effective in treating early HHV-6 reactivation post-transplantation and may reduce the incidence of HHV-6-related and treatment-related complications and preclude hospitalization in these patients.
PICO Summary
Population
Adults who underwent allo-HSCT from a single centre in USA (n=43)
Intervention
HHV-6 DNA monitoring twice monthly. For reactivation, once-daily foscarnet 60 to 90 mg/kg for 7 days for HHV-6 reactivation (n=11)
Comparison
None
Outcome
The median follow-up was 440 days (range, 174 to 831 days), and the median time to HHV-6 reactivation was 22 days post-transplantation (range, 15 to 89 days). The median viral load at first reactivation was 3,100 copies/mL (range, 210 to 118,000 copies/mL), and the median peak viral load was 11,300 copies/mL (range, 600 to 983,000 copies/mL. In all patients, plasma HHV-6 DNA was undetectable at completion of 1 week of treatment. No HHV-6 encephalitis or pneumonitis occurred. All patients achieved neutrophil and platelet engraftment after a median of 16 days (range, 8 to 22 days) and 26 days (range, 14 to 168 days), respectively, with no secondary graft failure. No complications related to foscarnet administration were noted. One patient with very high HHV-6 viremia had recurrent reactivation and received a second course of foscarnet as an outpatient.
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3.
SIRPα Mismatch Is Associated With Relapse Protection and Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Related Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Lymphoid Malignancies
Saliba, R. M., Srour, S. A., Greenbaum, U., Ma, Q., Carmazzi, Y., Moller, M., Wood, J., Ciurea, S. O., Kongtim, P., Rondon, G., et al
Frontiers in immunology. 2022;13:904718
Abstract
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative therapy for hematologic malignancies. Alloreactivity after HSCT is known to be mediated by adaptive immune cells expressing rearranging receptors. Recent studies demonstrated that the innate immune system could likewise sense the non-self signals and subsequently enhance the alloimmune response. We recently demonstrated that the donor/recipient mismatch of signal regulatory protein α (SIRPα), an immunoglobulin receptor exclusively expressed on innate cells, is associated with a higher risk of cGVHD and relapse protection in a cohort of acute myeloid leukemia patients who underwent allo-HSCT. Whether these effects also occur in other hematologic malignancies remains unclear. In the present study, we compared outcomes by SIRPα match status in a cohort of 310 patients who received allo-HSCT from an HLA matched-related donor for the treatment of lymphoid malignancies. Multivariable analysis showed that SIRPα mismatch was associated with a significantly higher rate of cGVHD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.8, P= .002), cGVHD requiring systemic immunosuppressive therapy (HR 1.9, P= .005), a lower rate of disease progression (HR 0.5, P= .003) and improved progression-free survival (HR 0.5, P= .001). Notably, the effects of SIRPα mismatch were observed only in the patients who achieved >95% of donor T-cell chimerism. The mismatch in SIRPα is associated with favorable relapse protection and concurrently increased risk of cGVHD in patients who undergo allo-HSCT for lymphoid malignancies, and the optimal donor could be selected based on the finding of the study to mitigate the risk of GVHD and relapse.
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4.
Donor selection for KIR alloreactivity is associated with superior survival in haploidentical transplant with PTCy
Zou, J., Kongtim, P., Srour, S. A., Greenbaum, U., Schetelig, J., Heidenreich, F., Baldauf, H., Moore, B., Saengboon, S., Carmazzi, Y., et al
Frontiers in immunology. 2022;13:1033871
Abstract
With the continuous increase in the use of haploidentical donors for transplantation, the selection of donors becomes increasingly important. Haploidentical donors have been selected primarily based on clinical characteristics, while the effects of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) on outcomes of haploidentical-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) remain inconclusive. The present study aimed to thoroughly evaluate the effect of KIRs and binding ligands assessed by various models, in addition to other patient/donor variables, on clinical outcomes in haplo-HSCT. In a cohort of 354 patients undergoing their first haplo-HSCT, we found that a higher Count Functional inhibitory KIR score (CF-iKIR) was associated with improved progression-free survival (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.71; P = .029) and overall survival (OS) (HR, 0.66; P = .016), while none of the other models predicted for survival in these patients. Moreover, using exploratory classification and regression tree analysis, we found that donor age <58 years combined with cytomegalovirus-nonreactive recipient was associated with the best OS, whereas donor age >58 years was associated with the worst OS. In the rest of our cohort (80%), cytomegalovirus-reactive recipients with a donor <58 years old, a higher CF-iKIR was associated with superior OS. The 3-year OS rates were 73.9%, 54.1% (HR, 1.84; P = .044), 44.5% (HR, 2.01; P = .003), and 18.5% (HR, 5.44; P <.001) in the best, better, poor, and worse donor groups, respectively. Our results suggest that KIR alloreactivity assessed by CF-iKIR score can help optimize donor selection in haplo-HSCT.
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5.
Mismatch in SIRPa, a regulatory protein in innate immunity, is associated with chronic GVHD in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Saliba, R. M., Greenbaum, U., Ma, Q., Srour, S. A., Carmazzi, Y., Li, L., Oran, B., Moller, M., Wood, J., Ciurea, S. O., et al
Blood advances. 2021;5(17):3407-3417
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Abstract
Recent compelling evidence showed that innate immune effector cells could recognize allogeneic grafts and prime an adaptive immune response. Signal regulatory protein a (SIRPa) is an immunoglobulin superfamily receptor that is expressed on myeloid cells; the interaction between SIRPa and its ubiquitously expressed ligand CD47 elicits an inhibitory signal that suppresses macrophage phagocytic function. Additional studies showed that donor-recipient mismatch in SIRPa variants might activate monocytic allorecognition, possibly as the result of non-self SIRPa-CD47 interaction. However, the frequency of SIRPa variation and its role in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains unexplored. We studied 350 patients with acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome who underwent HLA-matched related HSCT and found that SIRPa allelic mismatches were present in 39% of transplantation pairs. SIRPa variant mismatch was associated with a significantly higher rate of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD; hazard ratio [HR], 1.5; P = .03), especially de novo chronic GVHD (HR, 2.0; P = .01), after adjusting for other predictors. Those with mismatched SIRPa had a lower relapse rate (HR, 0.6; P = .05) and significantly longer relapse-free survival (RFS; HR, 0.6; P = .04). Notably, the effect of SIRPa variant mismatch on relapse protection was most pronounced early after HSCT and in patients who were not in remission at HSCT (cumulative incidence, 73% vs 54%; HR, 0.5; P = .01). These findings show that SIRPa variant mismatch is associated with HSCT outcomes, possibly owing to innate allorecognition. SIRPa variant matching could provide valuable information for donor selection and risk stratification in HSCT.
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6.
Number of HLA mismatched eplets is not associated with major outcomes in haploidentical transplantation with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide: A Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Study
Zou, J., Wang, T., He, M., Bolon, Y. T., Gadalla, S. M., Marsh, S. G. E., Kuxhausen, M., Gale, R. P., Sharma, A., Assal, A., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2021
Abstract
The number of haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (haplo-HSCT) being performed has substantially increased in recent years. The immunogenicity derived from the mismatched HLA haplotype, assessed at an antigen level, has no reported significant impact on clinical outcomes. Single-center studies have previously used in silico algorithms to quantitively measure HLA disparity and shown an association of the number of HLA molecular mismatches with relapse protection and/or increased risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). However, the inconsistent results from the small studies make it difficult to convincingly demonstrate the full clinical impact of molecular mismatch in haplo-HSCT. In this study, we investigated whether the number of mismatched eplets (ME) score, generated by HLAMatchmaker, predicts outcomes in a registry-based cohort of patients with the first haplo-HST for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, or myelodysplastic syndrome reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) between 2013 to 2017. These results showed that neither ME derived from individual HLA locus nor ME derived from total class I or class II loci were significantly associated with any major transplantation outcome (P< .01). There were unexpected associations between HLA class II ME in the GVH direction with slower neutrophil (HR 0.82; 95% CI, 0.75 - 0.91; P < .0001) and platelet engraftment (HR 0.80; 95% CI, 0.72 - 0.88; P < .0001), likely attributable to the ME derived from HLA-DRB1 which was also correlated with slower neutrophil (HR 0.82; 95% CI, 0.73 - 0.92; P?=?.001) and platelet engraftment (HR 0.76; 95% CI, 0.70 - 0.84; P < .0001). The findings of this study do not support prior studies reporting that the number of ME, as classified by HLAMatchmaker, were associated with major haplo-HSCT outcomes.
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7.
Treatment of Allosensitized Patients Receiving Allogeneic Transplantation
Ciurea, S. O., Al Malki, M. M., Kongtim, P., Zou, J., Aung, F. M., Rondon, G., Chen, J., Taniguchi, M., Otoukesh, S., Nademanee, A., et al
Blood advances. 2021
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
Donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (DSA) are a major cause of engraftment failure in patients receiving haploidentical stem cell transplantation (HaploSCT). Effective treatments are needed for these patients who often have no other donor options and/or are in need to proceed urgently to transplantation. We studied a multimodality treatment with alternate day plasma exchange, rituximab, intravenous gamma globulin (IvIg) and an irradiated donor buffy coat for patients with DSA at two institutions. Thirty-seven patients with a median age of 51 years were treated with this desensitization protocol. Treatment outcomes were compared with a control group of HaploSCT patients without DSA (N=345). Majority of patients in the DSA group were females (83.8% vs. 37.1% in controls, p<0.001) and received stem cells from a child as donor (67.6% vs. 44.1%, p=0.002). Mean DSA level before and after desensitization was 10,198 and 5,937 MFI, respectively with mean differences of 4,030 MFI. Fourteen of 30 tested patients (46.7%) had C1q positivity while 8 of 29 tested patients (27.6%) remained positive after desensitization. In multivariable analysis, patients with initial DSA >20,000 MFI and with persistent C1q+ after desensitization had a significantly lower engraftment rate, resulted in a significantly higher non-relapse mortality (NRM) and worse overall survival (OS) than controls whereas graft outcome and survivals of patients with initial DSA <20,000 MFI and those with negative C1q after treatment were comparable with controls. In conclusion, treatment with plasma exchange, rituximab, IvIg and donor buffy coat is effective in promoting engraftment in patients with DSA up to 20,000 MFI.
PICO Summary
Population
Patients with donor specific antibodies (DSAs) from two US centres, receiving allogeneic transplantation (DSA group, n=37)
Intervention
Desensitisation protocol: alternate day plasma exchange, rituximab, intravenous gamma globulin (IvIg) and an irradiated donor buffy coat (n=37)
Comparison
Patients without DSAs undergoing haploidentical transplantation (Control, n=345)
Outcome
The majority of patients in the DSA group were female (83.8% vs 37.1% in controls,) and received stem cells from a child as the donor (67.6% vs 44.1%). Mean DSA level before and after desensitization was 10 198 and 5937 mean fluorescence intensity (MFI), respectively, with mean differences of 4030 MFI. Fourteen of 30 tested patients (46.7%) had C1q positivity, while 8 of 29 tested patients (27.6%) remained positive after desensitization. In multivariable analysis, patients with initial DSA > 20 000 MFI and persistent positive C1q after desensitization had a significantly lower engraftment rate, which resulted in significantly higher non-relapse mortality and worse overall survival (OS) than controls, whereas graft outcome and survival of patients with initial DSA < 20 000 MFI and those with negative C1q after treatment were comparable with controls.
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8.
Decrease post-transplant relapse using donor-derived expanded NK-cells
Ciurea, S. O., Kongtim, P., Soebbing, D., Trikha, P., Behbehani, G., Rondon, G., Olson, A., Bashir, Q., Gulbis, A. M., Indreshpal, K., et al
Leukemia. 2021
Abstract
In this phase I/II clinical trial, we investigated the safety and efficacy of high doses of mb-IL21 ex vivo expanded donor-derived NK cells to decrease relapse in 25 patients with myeloid malignancies receiving haploidentical stem-cell transplantation (HSCT). Three doses of donor NK cells (1?×?10(5)-1?×?10(8) cells/kg/dose) were administered on days -2, +7, and +28. Results were compared with an independent contemporaneously treated case-matched cohort of 160 patients from the CIBMTR database.After a median follow-up of 24 months, the 2-year relapse rate was 4% vs. 38% (p?=?0.014), and disease-free survival (DFS) was 66% vs. 44% (p?=?0.1) in the cases and controls, respectively. Only one relapse occurred in the study group, in a patient with the high level of donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (DSA) presented before transplantation. The 2-year relapse and DFS in patients without DSA was 0% vs. 40% and 72% vs. 44%, respectively with HR for DFS in controls of 2.64 (p?=?0.029). NK cells in recipient blood were increased at day +30 in a dose-dependent manner compared with historical controls, and had a proliferating, mature, highly cytotoxic, NKG2C+/KIR+ phenotype.Administration of donor-derived expanded NK cells after haploidentical transplantation was safe, associated with NK cell-dominant immune reconstitution early post-transplant, preserved T-cell reconstitution, and improved relapse and DFS. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT01904136 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01904136 ).
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9.
Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide (PTCy) is Associated with Increased Cytomegalovirus Infection: A CIBMTR Analysis
Goldsmith, S. R., Abid, M. B., Auletta, J. J., Bashey, A., Beitinjaneh, A., Castillo, P., Chemaly, R. F., Chen, M., Ciurea, S. O., Dandoy, C. E., et al
Blood. 2021
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
Prior studies suggest increased CMV infection following haploidentical donor transplantation with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (HaploCy). The role of allograft source and PTCy in CMV infection and disease is unclear. We analyzed the effect of graft source and PTCy on incidence of CMV infection as well as transplant outcomes as it relates to CMV serostatus and occurrence of CMV infection by d180. We examined patients reported to CIBMTR between 2012-2017 who had received HaploCy (n = 757), Sib with PTCy (SibCy, n=403), or Sib with calcineurin inhibitor-based prophylaxis (SibCNI, n=1605) for AML/ALL/MDS. Cumulative incidences of CMV infection by d180 were 42% (99% CI, 37-46), 37% (31 - 43), and 23% (20 - 26), respectively [p<0.001]. CMV end-organ disease was statistically comparable. CMV infection risk was highest for CMV-Seropositive recipients (R+), but significantly higher in PTCy recipients regardless of donor [HaploCy (n=545): HR 50.3 (14.4 - 175.2); SibCy (n=279): HR 47.7 (13.3 - 171.4); SibCNI (n=1065): HR 24.4 (7.2 - 83.1); p<0.001]. D+/R- patients also had increased risk for CMV infection. Among seropositive recipients or those developing CMV infection, HaploCy had worse OS and NRM. Relapse was unaffected by CMV infection or serostatus. PTCy was associated with lower chronic GVHD overall, but CMV infection in PTCy recipients was associated with higher cGVHD (p=0.006). PTCy, regardless of donor, is associated with higher incidence of CMV infection, augmenting the risk of seropositivity. Additionally CMV infection may negate the cGVHD protection of PTCy. This study supports aggressive prevention strategies in all patients receiving PTCy.
PICO Summary
Population
Patients with acute myeloid leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or myelodysplastic synrome (n=2765)
Intervention
Haploidentical transplantation with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (HaploCy, n=757),
Comparison
Sibling donor with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (SibCy, n=403), or Sibling donor with calcineurin inhibitor-based prophylaxis (SibCNI, n=1605)
Outcome
Cumulative incidences of CMV infection by day 180 were 42% (HaploCy), 37% (SibCy), and 23% (SibCNI), respectively. CMV end-organ disease was statistically comparable. CMV infection risk was highest for CMV-Seropositive recipients (R+), but significantly higher in PTCy recipients regardless of donor [HaploCy (n=545): HR 50.3; SibCy (n=279): HR 47.7; SibCNI (n=1065): HR 24.4. D+/R- patients also had increased risk for CMV infection. Among seropositive recipients or those developing CMV infection, HaploCy had worse OS and NRM. Relapse was unaffected by CMV infection or serostatus. PTCy was associated with lower chronic GVHD overall, but CMV infection in PTCy recipients was associated with higher cGVHD. PTCy, regardless of donor, is associated with higher incidence of CMV infection, augmenting the risk of seropositivity. Additionally CMV infection may negate the cGVHD protection of PTCy.
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10.
Incidence and impact of community respiratory viral infections in post-transplant cyclophosphamide-based graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis and haploidentical stem cell transplantation
Mulroney, C. M., Bilal Abid, M., Bashey, A., Chemaly, R. F., Ciurea, S. O., Chen, M., Dandoy, C. E., Diaz Perez, M. A., Friend, B. D., Fuchs, E., et al
British journal of haematology. 2021
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Abstract
Community respiratory viral infections (CRVIs) are associated with pulmonary function impairment, alloimmune lung syndromes and inferior survival in human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-matched allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients. Although the incidence of viral infections in HLA-haploidentical HCT recipients who receive post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy)-based graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis is reportedly increased, there are insufficient data describing the incidence of CRVIs and the impact of donor source and PTCy on transplant outcomes. Analysing patients receiving their first HCT between 2012 and 2017 for acute myeloid leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, we describe comparative outcomes between matched sibling transplants receiving either calcineurin-based GVHD prophylaxis (SibCNI, N = 1605) or PTCy (SibCy, N = 403), and related haploidentical transplants receiving PTCy (HaploCy, N = 757). The incidence of CRVIs was higher for patients receiving PTCy, regardless of donor type. Patients in the HaploCy cohort who developed a CRVI by day +180 had both a higher risk of treatment-related mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 2·14, 99% confidence interval (CI) 1·13-4·07; P = 0·002] and inferior 2-year overall survival (HR 1·65, 99% CI 1·11-2·43; P = 0·001) compared to SibCNI with no CRVI. This finding justifies further research into long-term antiviral immune recovery, as well as development of preventive and treatment strategies to improve long-term outcomes in such patients.