1.
Post-Transplant cyclophosphamide is associated with increase in Non-CMV Herpesvirus infections in Acute leukemia and MDS patients
Singh, A., Dandoy, C. E., Chen, M., Kim, S., Mulroney, C. M., Kharfan-Dabaja, M. A., Ganguly, S., Maziarz, R. T., Kanakry, C. G., Kanakry, J. A., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is increasing use of post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) for GVHD prophylaxis for both haploidentical and fully matched transplants. Published studies have reported an increased incidence of CMV infection with the use of PTCy. Limited data exist regarding the incidence and outcomes of infection with non-CMV herpes viruses (NCHV) in this setting. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the cumulative incidence of NCHV infections and the association of NCHV infections with transplant-specific outcomes in patients receiving haploidentical transplant with PTCy(HaploCy), matched sibling donor transplant with PTCy (SibCy) or matched sibling donor transplant with calcineurin inhibitor based prophylaxis (SibCNI). We hypothesized that, like CMV infection, patients receiving haploidentical transplant with PTCy will have higher risk of NCHV infections. STUDY DESIGN Using the CIBMTR database, we analyzed patients (HaploCy, n=757; SibCNI, n=1605; SibCy, n=403) receiving first hematopoietic stem-cell transplant between 2012 and 2017 for acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. RESULTS The cumulative incidence of non-CMV herpes virus infection at six months post-transplant in the HaploCy, SibCy and SibCNI were 13.9% (99%CI=10.8-17.3%), 10.7% (99%CI=7.1-15%), and 5.7% (99%CI=4.3-7.3%), p<0.001 respectively. This was primarily due to a higher frequency of HHV-6 viremia reported in patients receiving PTCy. Incidence of Epstein-Barr viremia was low in all groups and no cases of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder were seen in PTCy groups. The incidence of non-CMV herpes virus organ disease was low in all three cohorts. Development of NCHV infection was associated with increased treatment-related mortality, particularly in the HaploCy group. There was no association with the development of GVHD, relapse, and disease-free survival. Patients in PTCy cohorts who did not develop non-CMV herpes virus infection had lower rates of cGVHD. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that the use of PTCy is associated with increased risk of NCHV infection. Development of NCHV infection is associated with increased non-relapse mortality, especially in HaploCY group. Prospective trials should consider viral surveillance strategies in conjunction with assessment of immune reconstitution for better understanding of the clinical relevance of viral reactivation in different transplant settings.
2.
A randomised, placebo-controlled phase 3 study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ASP0113, a DNA-based CMV vaccine, in seropositive allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplant recipients
Ljungman, P., Bermudez, A., Logan, A. C., Kharfan-Dabaja, M. A., Chevallier, P., Martino, R., Wulf, G., Selleslag, D., Kakihana, K., Langston, A., et al
EClinicalMedicine. 2021;33:100787
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a complication of allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). ASP0113, a DNA-based vaccine, contains two plasmids encoding human CMV glycoprotein B and phosphoprotein 65 (pp65). We assessed ASP0113 in CMV-seropositive allo-HCT recipients. METHODS In this phase 3, randomised, placebo-controlled study, CMV-seropositive allo-HCT recipients were randomly assigned (1:1) via interactive response technology to receive five injections of 1?mL of 5?mg/mL ASP0113 or placebo. The pharmacist and designated staff were unblinded. Masked syringes maintained the blind for patients and study personnel. Efficacy and safety analyses included patients who received =1 dose of ASP0113/placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of allo-HCT recipients with composite all-cause mortality and adjudicated CMV end-organ disease (EOD) by 1 year post-transplant. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01877655 (not recruiting). FINDINGS Patients were recruited between Sept 11, 2013 and Sept 21, 2016. Overall, 501 patients received =1 dose of ASP0113 (n?=?246) or placebo (n?=?255). The proportion of patients with composite all-cause mortality and adjudicated CMV EOD by 1 year post-transplant was 35.4% (n?=?87) with ASP0113 and 30•2% (n?=?77) with placebo (odds ratio 1.27; 95% confidence interval: 0.87 to 1.85; p?=?0.205). Incidence of injection site-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) was higher with ASP0113 than placebo. Overall incidence and severity of other TEAEs was similar between groups. T-cell response to pp65 increased over time and was greater with placebo than ASP0113 (p?=?0.027). INTERPRETATION ASP0113 did not reduce overall mortality or CMV EOD by 1 year post-transplant. Safety findings were similar between groups. FUNDING Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc .