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Persistent IDH mutations are not associated with increased relapse or death in patients with IDH-mutated acute myeloid leukemia undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant with post-transplant cyclophosphamide
Ravindra, N., Dillon, L. W., Gui, G., Smith, M., Gondek, L. P., Jones, R. J., Corner, A., Hourigan, C. S., Ambinder, A. J.
Bone marrow transplantation. 2024
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Haploidentical donor hematopoietic cell transplantation for myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative overlap neoplasms: results from a North American collaboration
Jain, T., Tsai, H. L., Elmariah, H., Vachhani, P., Karantanos, T., Wall, S. A., Gondek, L. P., Bashey, A., Keyzner, A., Tamari, R., et al
Haematologica. 2023
Abstract
Haploidentical donors offer a potentially readily available donor, especially for non-White patients, for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). In this North American collaboration, we retrospectively analyzed outcomes of first HCT using haploidentical donor and posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) in MDS/MPN-overlap neoplasms (MDS/MPN). We included 120 consecutive patients who underwent HCT using a haploidentical donor for MDS/MPN across 15 centers. Median age was 62.5 years and 38% were of non-White/Caucasian ethnicity. The median follow-up was 2.4 years. Graft failure was reported in 7/120 (6%) of patients. At 3 years, nonrelapse mortality (NRM) was 25% (95%CI 17-34%), relapse 27% (95%CI 18-36%), grade 3-4 acute graft versus host disease (GVHD) 12% (95%CI 6-18%), chronic GVHD requiring systemic immunosuppression 14% (95%CI 7-20%), progression-free survival (PFS) 48% (95%CI 39-59%), and overall survival (OS) 56% (95%CI 47-67%). On multivariable analysis, NRM was statistically significantly associated with advancing age at HCT (per decade increment, sdHR 3.28, 95%CI 1.30-8.25); relapse with the presence of mutation in EZH2/RUNX1/SETBP1 (sdHR 2.61, 95%CI 1.06-6.44); PFS with advancing age at HCT (per decade increment, HR 1.98, 95% 1.13-3.45); and OS with advancing age at HCT (per decade increment, HR 2.01, 95% CI 1.11-3.63) and splenomegaly at HCT/prior splenectomy (HR 2.20, 95%CI 1.04-4.65). Haploidentical donors are a viable option for HCT in MDS/MPN, especially for those disproportionately represented in the unrelated donor registry. Hence, donor mismatch should not preclude HCT for patients with MDS/MPN, an otherwise incurable malignancy. In addition to patient age, disease-related factors including splenomegaly and high-risk mutations dominate outcomes following HCT.
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Donor cell-derived genetic abnormalities after sex mismatched allogeneic cell transplantation: a unique challenge of donor cell leukemia
Klausner, M., Phan, B., Morsberger, L., Parish, R., Shane, A., Park, R., Gocke, C. D., Xian, R. R., Jones, R. J., Bolaños-Meade, J., et al
Blood cancer journal. 2023;13(1):163
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Cell-free DNA measurable residual disease as a predictor of postallogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant outcomes
Pasca, S., Guo, M. Z., Wang, S., Stokvis, K., Shedeck, A., Pallavajjala, A., Shams, C., Pallavajjala, R., DeZern, A., Varadhan, R., et al
Blood advances. 2023
Abstract
The measurable residual disease (MRD) assessment provides an attractive predictor of alloHCT outcomes. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been applied to diagnosis, early detection, and disease burden monitoring in various tumors but its utility as an MRD test in myeloid malignancies has not been systematically evaluated. We sought to determine the differential sensitivity between bone marrow (BM) and cfDNA MRD and to assess the effect of cfDNA MRD on alloHCT outcomes. The technical and clinical validation cohort including 82 patients participating in clinical trials (BMT CTN-0201 and 0402) were utilized. Ultra-deep error-corrected targeted sequencing was performed on plasma and bone marrow-derived DNA. We demonstrated that 94.6% (range 93.9-95.3%) of cfDNA was derived from hematopoietic tissue. The mutant allele fraction was congruent between BM and cfDNA (rho = 0.8, p<0.0001), however, cfDNA appeared to be more sensitive in detecting clones with variant allele frequency (VAF) <0.26%. CfDNA-MRD clearance by day 90 post-alloHCT (D90) was associated with improved relapse-free survival (RFS, median survival not reached vs 5.5 months, p <0.0001) and overall survival (OS, median survival not reached vs 7.3 months, p < 0.0001) when compared to patients with persistent MRD. Irrespective of pre-alloHCT MRD, D90 cfDNA MRD was associated with inferior 2-year OS (16.7% vs. 84.8%, p <0.0001) and RFS (16.7% vs. 80.7%, p <0.0001). CfDNA appears to be an accurate, minimally invasive alternative to BM aspirates in MRD assessment and confers important prognostic implications in patients with myeloid malignancies undergoing alloHCT.
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5.
Posttransplantation Cyclophosphamide-based Graft versus Host Disease Prophylaxis with Non-myeloablative Conditioning for Blood or Marrow Transplantation for Myelofibrosis
Jain, T., Tsai, H. L., DeZern, A. E., Gondek, L. P., Elmariah, H., Bolaños-Meade, J., Luznik, L., Fuchs, E., Ambinder, R., Gladstone, D. E., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2022
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
We describe outcomes with posttransplantation cyclophosphamide and non-myeloablative conditioning based allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation for myelofibrosis using matched or mismatched, family or unrelated donors. The conditioning regimen consisted of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation. Forty-two patients, with a median age of 63 years, were included, of whom 19% had intermediate-1, 60% had intermediate-2, and 21% had high-risk DIPSS-plus disease, and 60% had atleast one high-risk somatic mutation. Over 90% patients engrafted neutrophils at a median of 19.5 days and 7% had graft failure. At 1 and 3-years, respectively, the overall survival was 65% and 60%, relapse-free survival was 65% and 31%, relapse was 5% and 40%, and non-relapse mortality was 30% and 30%. Acute graft versus host disease grade 3-4 was noted in 17% at 1 year and chronic graft versus host disease requiring systemic therapy in 12% patients. Spleen size ≥ 17 cm or prior splenectomy was associated with inferior relapse-free survival (HR 3.50, 95% CI 1.18-10.37, P=0.02) and higher relapse rate (SDHR not calculable, P=0.01). Age > 60 years (SDHR 0.26, 95% CI: 0.08-0.80, P=0.02) and peripheral blood graft (SDHR 0.34, 95% CI 0.11-0.99, P=0.05) was associated with lower risk of relapse. In our limited sample, the presence of a high-risk mutation was not statistically significantly associated with an inferior outcome although ASXL1 was suggestive of inferior survival (SDHR 2.36. 95% CI 0.85-6.6, P=0.09). Overall, this approach shows comparable outcomes as previously reported and underscores the importance of spleen size in evaluation of transplant candidates.
PICO Summary
Population
Patients with high-risk Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System (DIPSS)-plus myelofibrosis (n=42)
Intervention
Matched or mismatched allogeneic transplantation with non-myeloablative conditioning, and post-transplant cyclophosphamide
Comparison
None
Outcome
Over 90% patients engrafted neutrophils at a median of 19.5 days and 7% had graft failure. At 1 and 3-years, respectively, the overall survival was 65% and 60%, relapse-free survival was 65% and 31%, relapse was 5% and 40%, and non-relapse mortality was 30% and 30%. Acute graft versus host disease grade 3-4 was noted in 17% at 1 year and chronic graft versus host disease requiring systemic therapy in 12% patients. Spleen size ≥ 17 cm or prior splenectomy was associated with inferior relapse-free survival (HR 3.50, 95% CI 1.18-10.37) and higher relapse rate (SDHR not calculable). Age > 60 years (SDHR 0.26, 95% CI: 0.08-0.80) and peripheral blood graft (SDHR 0.34, 95% CI 0.11-0.99) was associated with lower risk of relapse. In our limited sample, the presence of a high-risk mutation was not statistically significantly associated with an inferior outcome although ASXL1 was suggestive of inferior survival (SDHR 2.36. 95% CI 0.85-6.6).
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Allogeneic Blood or Marrow Transplantation with High-Dose Post-transplantation Cyclophosphamide for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Patients Aged ≥55
Webster, J. A., Reed, M., Tsai, H. L., Ambinder, A., Jain, T., Dezern, A. E., Levis, M. J., Showel, M. M., Prince, G. T., Hourigan, C. S., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients ≥55 years-old with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) fare poorly with conventional chemotherapy with 5-year overall survival of ∼20%. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors and novel B-cell targeted therapies improve outcomes, but rates of relapse and death in remission remain high. Allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation (AlloBMT) provides an alternative consolidation strategy, and post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) facilitates HLA-mismatched transplants with low rates of non-relapse mortality (NRM) and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). METHODS The transplant database at Johns Hopkins was queried for patients ≥ 55 years old who received alloBMT for ALL using PTCy. FINDINGS The database included 77 such patients. Most received reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) (88.3%), were in first remission (CR1) (85.7%), and had B-lineage disease (90.9%). For the entire cohort, 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were 46% (95% CI 34-57) and 49% (95% CI 37-60). Grade 3-4 acute GVHD occurred in only 3% of patients and chronic GVHD in 13%. In multivariable analysis, myeloablative conditioning led to worse RFS (HR 4.65, p=0.001); while transplant in CR1 (HR 0.30, p=0.004), and transplant for Ph+ ALL vs. T ALL (HR 0.29, p=0.03) improved RFS. Of the 54 patients who received RIC alloBMT in CR1 for B ALL, 5-year RFS and OS were 62% (95% CI 47-74) and 65% (95% CI 51-77), respectively, with a 5-year relapse incidence of 16% (95% CI 7-27) and NRM of 24% (95% CI 13-36). INTERPRETATION RIC AlloBMT with PTCy in CR1 represents a promising consolidation strategy for B ALL patients ≥ 55 years old. FUNDING NIH grants P01 CA225618 and P30 CA06973.
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Impact of diagnostic genetics on remission MRD and transplantation outcomes in older AML patients
Murdock, H. M., Kim, H. T., Denlinger, N., Vachhani, P., Hambley, B. C., Manning, B. S., Gier, S., Cho, C., Tsai, H. K., McCurdy, S. R., et al
Blood. 2022
Abstract
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have high relapse risk and poor survival after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Younger patients may receive myeloablative conditioning to mitigate relapse risk associated with high-risk genetics or measurable residual disease (MRD), but older adults typically receive reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) to limit toxicity. To identify factors that drive HCT outcomes in older patients, we performed targeted mutational analysis (VAF≥2%) on diagnostic samples from 295 AML patients age 60 or older who underwent HCT in first complete remission, 91% of whom received RIC, and targeted duplex sequencing at the time of remission in 192 patients. In a multivariable model for leukemia-free survival (LFS) including baseline genetic and clinical variables, we defined patients with low (3-year LFS 85%), intermediate (55%), high (35%), and very high risk (7%). Prior to HCT, 79.7% of patients had persistent baseline mutations, including 18.3% with only DNMT3A or TET2 mutations (DT) and 61.4% with other mutations (MRDpositive). In univariable analysis, MRD-positivity was associated with increased relapse and inferior LFS compared with DT and MRDnegative patients. However, in a multivariable model accounting for baseline risk, MRD-positivity had no independent impact on LFS, likely due to its significant association with diagnostic genetic characteristics including MDS-associated gene mutations, TP53 mutations, and high-risk karyotype. In conclusion, molecular associations with MRD positivity and transplant outcomes in older AML patients are driven primarily by baseline genetics, and not by mutations present in remission. In this group of patients, where high-intensity conditioning carries substantial risk of toxicity, alternative approaches to mitigating MRD-associated relapse risk are required.
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Donor Clonal Hematopoiesis and Recipient Outcomes After Transplantation
Gibson, C. J., Kim, H. T., Zhao, L., Murdock, H. M., Hambley, B., Ogata, A., Madero-Marroquin, R., Wang, S., Green, L., Fleharty, M., et al
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. 2021;:Jco2102286
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Abstract
PURPOSE Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) can be transmitted from a donor to a recipient during allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Exclusion of candidate donors with CH is controversial since its impact on recipient outcomes and graft alloimmune function is uncertain. PATIENTS AND METHODS We performed targeted error-corrected sequencing on samples from 1,727 donors age 40 years or older and assessed the effect of donor CH on recipient clinical outcomes. We measured long-term engraftment of 102 donor clones and cytokine levels in 256 recipients at 3 and 12 months after transplant. RESULTS CH was present in 22.5% of donors, with DNMT3A (14.6%) and TET2 (5.2%) mutations being most common; 85% of donor clones showed long-term engraftment in recipients after transplantation, including clones with a variant allele fraction < 0.01. DNMT3A-CH with a variant allele fraction = 0.01, but not smaller clones, was associated with improved recipient overall (hazard ratio [HR], 0.79; P = .042) and progression-free survival (HR, 0.72; P = .003) after adjustment for significant clinical variables. In patients who received calcineurin-based graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis, donor DNMT3A-CH was associated with reduced relapse (subdistribution HR, 0.59; P = .014), increased chronic graft-versus-host disease (subdistribution HR, 1.36; P = .042), and higher interleukin-12p70 levels in recipients. No recipient of sole DNMT3A or TET2-CH developed donor cell leukemia (DCL). In seven of eight cases, DCL evolved from donor CH with rare TP53 or splicing factor mutations or from donors carrying germline DDX41 mutations. CONCLUSION Donor CH is closely associated with clinical outcomes in transplant recipients, with differential impact on graft alloimmune function and potential for leukemic transformation related to mutated gene and somatic clonal abundance. Donor DNMT3A-CH is associated with improved recipient survival because of reduced relapse risk and with an augmented network of inflammatory cytokines in recipients. Risk of DCL in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is driven by somatic myelodysplastic syndrome-associated mutations or germline predisposition in donors.
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Allogeneic transplantation for Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia with posttransplantation cyclophosphamide
Webster, J. A., Luznik, L., Tsai, H. L., Imus, P. H., DeZern, A. E., Pratz, K. W., Levis, M. J., Gojo, I., Showel, M. M., Prince, G., et al
Blood advances. 2020;4(20):5078-5088
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
Allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation (alloBMT) is standard of care for adults with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) in first complete remission (CR1). The routine pretransplant and posttransplant use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has dramatically improved outcomes, but the optimal conditioning regimen, donor type, and TKI remain undefined. The bone marrow transplant database at Johns Hopkins was queried for adult patients with de novo Ph+ ALL who received alloBMT using posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) as a component of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis from 2008 to 2018. Among transplants for Ph+ ALL, 69 (85%) were performed in CR1, and 12 (15%) were performed in second or greater remission (CR2+). The majority of transplants (58%) were HLA haploidentical. Nearly all patients (91.4%) initiated TKI posttransplant. For patients in CR1, the 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) was 66%. The use of nonmyeloablative conditioning, absence of measurable residual disease (MRD) according to flow cytometry at transplant, and the use of dasatinib vs imatinib at diagnosis were associated with improved overall survival (OS) and RFS. Neither donor type nor recipient age ≥60 years affected RFS. When analyzing all transplants, alloBMT in CR1 (vs CR2+) and the absence of pretransplant MRD were associated with improved RFS. Most relapses were associated with the emergence of kinase domain mutations. The cumulative incidence of grade 3 to 4 acute GVHD at 1 year was 9%, and moderate to severe chronic GVHD at 2 years was 8%. Nonmyeloablative alloBMT with PTCy for Ph+ ALL in an MRD-negative CR1 after initial treatment with dasatinib yields favorable outcomes.
PICO Summary
Population
Adults with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) undergoing allogeneic transplantation (n=76)
Intervention
Myeloablative conditioning in first complete remission (CR1 MAC, n=26); Non-myeloablative conditioning in first complete remission (CR1 NMAC, n=43)
Comparison
Patients in second or subsequent remission (CR2+, n=12)
Outcome
For patients in CR1, the 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) was 66%. The use of nonmyeloablative conditioning, absence of measurable residual disease (MRD) according to flow cytometry at transplant, and the use of dasatinib vs imatinib at diagnosis were associated with improved overall survival (OS) and RFS. Neither donor type nor recipient age ≥60 years affected RFS. When analyzing all transplants, alloBMT in CR1 (vs CR2+) and the absence of pretransplant MRD were associated with improved RFS. Most relapses were associated with the emergence of kinase domain mutations. The cumulative incidence of grade 3 to 4 acute GVHD at 1 year was 9%, and moderate to severe chronic GVHD at 2 years was 8%.