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Graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis with posttransplantation bendamustine (PTB) in patients with refractory acute leukemia: a dose-ranging study: Category of manuscript: Regular Manuscript
Moiseeev, I. S., Bondarenko, S. N., Morozova, E. V., Vlasova, Y. Y., Dotsenko, A. A., Epifanovskaya, O. S., Babenko, E. V., Botina, A. V., Baykov, V. V., Surkova, E. A., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND The prognosis of acute leukemia refractory to induction chemotherapy or immunotherapy is dismal. Salvage allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is widely used option for these patients, but only 10-15% of patients are cured by the procedure. Preclinical studies indicate that substitution of posttransplantation cyclophosphomide (PTCY) with bendamustine (PTB) in a prophylaxis regimen may be associated with augmented graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) reaction. OBJECTIVE establish the optimal dose of PTB and evaluate the anti-leukemic effect of HSCT with this type of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. STUDY DESIGN In the prospective trial (NCT02799147) PTB was administered in doses 140, 100 and 70 mg/m2 on days +3,+4. Myeloablative conditioning with fludarabine and oral busulfan was performed in all patients. First 12 patients received single-agent PTB and subsequent- combination with tacrolimus and MMF. Inclusion criteria were acute myeloblstic (AML) or lymphoblstic leukemia (ALL) refractory to at least on induction course of chemotherapy or target therapy and =5% clonal blasts in the bone marrow. Seven patients were enrolled in the 140 mg/m2 cohort (due to stopping rule), 10 in 100 mg/m2 and 10 in 70 mg/m2 group, including 22 with AML and 5 with ALL. Primary refractory disease was documented in 41% of patients and secondary refractory - in 59%. Median blast count in the bone marrow at the start of the conditioning was 18% (range 6-97%). Matched sibling transplantation was performed in 5 patients, matched or mismatched unrelated in 15, and haploidentical in 7. RESULTS Engraftment was documented in 93% of patients, including 89% with complete remission (CR) and 63% without measurable residual disease (MRD). After PTB prophylaxis we observed an unusual complication, a cytokine release syndrome (CRS), in 70% of the patients, including grade 3-5 in 44% of patients. Most often clinical symptoms included high fever in 67% of patients, abnormal liver function tests in 67%, pancreatitis in 63%, skin vasculitis in 56%, enterocolitis in 48%, inflammation of oral mucosa in 37%, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in 37%, CNS toxicity in 26%. Development of CRS was associated with HLA-mismatched donor (75% vs 20%, p= 0.0043). Classical acute GVHD was documented in 44% of patients. Grade II-IV acute GVHD was associated with grade 3-5 CRS (67% vs 25%, p=0.031). Moderate and severe chronic GVHD in the 100-day survivors was more often observed after single-agent PTB than after the combination immunosuppression (100% vs 18%, p=0.002). Relatively low relapse incidence was observed for this patient population. Three-year overall survival was 28% (95% CI 13-46%), event-free-survival 29% (95% CI 13-46%). NRM was 46% (95% CI 25-64%), CIR was 26% (95%CI 11-44). No relapses were documented after day+100. There was no statistical differences between the dose groups (p=0.3481), however the survival was higher in the 100 mg/kg group. The survival was higher in AML than ALL (35% vs 0%, p=0.0157). CONCLUSION PTB represents a promising option to augment GVL effect in refractory AML, however high CRS-associated mortality requires additional studies to reduce the risk of this complication. Thus, routine clinical application of PTB cannot be currently recommended. Combination immunosuppression with tacrolimus and MMF partially ameliorates these complications at least in the setting of HLA-matched allografts. Biological mechanisms of CRS and GVL after PTB require further elucidation.
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Long-term outcomes of ruxolitinib therapy in steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease in children and adults
Moiseev, I. S., Morozova, E. V., Bykova, T. A., Paina, O. V., Smirnova, A. G., Dotsenko, A. A., Borzenkova, E. S., Galimov, A. N., Gudognikova, Y. V., Ekushov, K. A., et al
Bone marrow transplantation. 2020
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
Acute and chronic steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease (srGVHD) is a life-threatening complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation. There are a number of reports on case series describing efficacy of ruxolitinib in both acute and chronic srGVHD. We conducted a prospective study (NCT02997280) in 75 patients with srGVHD (32 acute, 43 chronic, 41 adults, and 34 children). Patients with chronic GVHD had severe disease in 83% of cases, and acute GVHD patients had grade III-IV disease in 66% of cases. The overall response rate (ORR) was 75% (95% CI 57-89%) in acute GVHD and 81% (95% CI 67-92%) in chronic. Overall survival was 59% (95% CI 49-74%) in acute group and 85% (95% CI 70-93%). The major risk factors for lower survival were grade III-IV gastrointestinal involvement (29% vs 93%, p = 0.0001) in acute form and high disease risk score in chronic (65% vs 90%, p = 0.038). Toxicity was predominantly hematologic with 79% and 44% of grade III-IV neutropenia in acute and chronic groups, respectively. There was no difference between adults and children in terms of ORR (p = 0.31, p = 0.35), survival (p = 0.44, p = 0.12) and toxicity (p > 0.93). The study demonstrated that ruxolitinib is an effective option in acute and chronic srGVHD and can be used both in adults and children.
PICO Summary
Population
Adult and paediatric patients with steroid refractory GVHD, 32 acute, 42 chronic (n=75)
Intervention
Ruxolitinib at a starting dose of 10 mg bid for adults and children with weight >40 kg and 0.15 mg/kg bid for children with a weight less than 40 kg.
Comparison
None
Outcome
The overall response rate (ORR) was 75% in acute GVHD and 81% in chronic. Overall survival was 59% in acute group and 85% in chronic. The major risk factors for lower survival were grade III-IV gastrointestinal involvement (29% vs 93%) in acute form and high disease risk score in chronic (65% vs 90%). Toxicity was predominantly hematologic with 79% and 44% of grade III-IV neutropenia in acute and chronic groups, respectively. There was no difference between adults and children in terms of ORR, survival, and toxicity.
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High prevalence of CD3, NK, and NKT cells in the graft predicts adverse outcome after matched-related and unrelated transplantations with post transplantation cyclophosphamide
Moiseev, I. S., Babenko, E. V., Epifanovskaya, O. S., Sergeev, V. S., Dotcenko, A. A., Bakin, E. A., Surkova, E. A., Kuznetsova, D. A., Lapin, S. V., Pirogova, O. V., et al
Bone marrow transplantation. 2019
Abstract
The predictive value of graft composition and plasma biomarkers on the outcome of allogeneic HSCT is well known for conventional GVHD prophylaxis based on calcineurin inhibitors with or without antithymocyte globulin. Currently, there is limited data whether these results could be translated to post transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy). The prospective extension cohort of NCT02294552 trial enrolled 79 adult patients with acute leukemia in CR. Twenty-six received matched-related bone marrow (BM) grafts with single-agent PTCy and 53 received unrelated peripheral blood stem cell graft (PBSC) with PTCy, tacrolimus, and MMF. The grafts were studied by the flow cytometry, and plasma samples were analyzed by ELISA. In the cluster and major component analysis, we determined that transplantation from donors with high content of CD3, NKT, and CD16-CD56 + subpopulations in the PBSC grafts was associated with poor immunological recovery and compromised event-free survival (50% vs. 80%, HR 2.93, p = 0.015) both due to increased relapse incidence and non-relapse mortality. The significant independent predictor of moderate and severe chronic GVHD was the high prevalence of and iNKT, Vbeta11, and double-positive cells in the PBSC grafts from young donors (HR 2.75, p = 0.0483). No patterns could be identified for BM grafts and for plasma biomarkers.
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Risk-adapted GVHD prophylaxis with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide in adults after related, unrelated, and haploidentical transplantations
Moiseev, I. S., Pirogova, O. V., Alyanski, A. L., Babenko, E. V., Gindina, T. L., Darskaya, E. I., Slesarchuk, O. A., Bykova, T. A., Chukhlovin, A. B., Pevtcov, D. E., et al
European journal of haematology. 2018;100(5):395-402
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Although a number of studies were published on the efficacy of post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, no large studies prospectively evaluated this strategy in related, unrelated, and haploidentical grafts. METHODS In this study, GVHD prophylaxis for 57 matched bone marrow (MBM) grafts consisted of single-agent PTCy, for 88 matched PBSC grafts (MPBSC) consisted of PTCy, tacrolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) 30 mg/kg, and for 55 mismatched grafts (MMGs) consisted of PTCy, tacrolimus and MMF 45 mg/kg. RESULTS The study met the primary endpoint to demonstrate equivalent rates of acute GVHD grade II-IV (11%, 17%,19%, P = .46), III-IV (7%, 2%, 6%, P = .41), and moderate and severe chronic GVHD (22%, 11%, 15%, P = .23). There was also no differences in non-relapse mortality (11% vs 15% vs 17%, P = .75), overall survival (63% vs 71% vs 56%, P = .72), event-free-survival (51% vs 66% vs 48%, P = .32) for MBM, MPBSC, and MMG groups, respectively. Toxicity was comparable between groups except higher incidence of nephrotoxicity in combination arms (P = .0005) and higher incidence of graft failures in MMG group (P = .004). CONCLUSION The suggested risk-adapted PTCy-based prophylaxis is feasible and is associated with low GVHD incidence and mortality in all types of grafts. The study was registered on clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02294552).
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Profiles of pro-inflammatory cytokines in allogenic stem cell transplantation with post-transplant cyclophosphamide
Pirogova, O. V., Moiseev, I. S., Surkova, E. A., Lapin, S. V., Bondarenko, S. N., Kulagin, A. D., Afanasyev, B. V.
Cytokine. 2017;99:148-153
Abstract
Large number of studies was published about predictive value of cytokines for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Recently, there has been a growing interest in GVHD prophylaxis with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy). Clinical data on the dynamics of proinflammatory cytokines with this prophylaxis is lacking. In this study, we have measured the levels of IL-17, IL-6, IL-8, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in plasma on days -7, 0, +7, +14 and after engraftment in 20 patients with acute GVHD and 40 matched control patients with PTCy-based prophylaxis. Low levels of IL-8 (p=0.04) on day +7 and IFN-gamma (p=0.03) after engraftment were associated with grade II-IV acute GVHD. The same pattern was observed for severe acute GVHD. Low IFN-gamma after engraftment was also associated with increased non-relapse mortality (p=0.014). No impact of cytokine levels on overall survival and relapse incidence was observed (p>0.05). In conclusion, the dynamics of IL-8 and IFN-gamma in GVHD patients after PTCy was different from previously reported after conventional prophylaxis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Pharmacokinetic comparison of cyclosporin A and tacrolimus in graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis
Moiseev, I. S., Burmina, E. A., Muslimov, A. R., Pirogova, O. V., Bondarenko, S. N., Darskaya, E. I., Tarakanova, Y. A., Senina, N. G., Afanasyev, B. V.
Annals of Hematology. 2017;96(6):935-942
Abstract
A number of studies were published with contradictory results comparing tacrolimus (Tac) and cyclosporine A (CsA) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, but there are only few that accounted for pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters. In this study, we created a model based on median concentrations, variability of concentrations, and failures to maintain target levels that distinguished patients with low, intermediate, and high risks of acute GVHD (hazard ratios (HR) 1.77, 95%CI 1.36-2.32, p < 0.0001). This model was used to compare 95 patients with CsA and 239 with Tac GVHD prophylaxis. In the multivariate analysis, incorporating PK risk, no differences were observed for grade II-IV acute GVHD (HR 0.73, 95%CI 0.48-1.10, p = 0.13), but grade III-IV acute GVHD was lower in the Tac group (HR 0.47, 95%CI 0.28-0.78, p = 0.004). The observed difference was due to patients with high PK risk (HR 0.377, 95%CI 0.19-0.75, p = 0.005), but not with low and intermediate PK risk (p > 0.05). Patients in the Tac group had better GVHD relapse-free survival (HR = 0.659, p = 0.01) and comparable overall survival (p > 0.05). In conclusion, PK risk should be accounted for in comparisons of GVHD prophylaxis regimens with calcineurin inhibitors, and Tac was superior to CsA in patients with high, but not intermediate and low PK risk.
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Graft-versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis in Unrelated Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation with Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide, Tacrolimus, and Mycophenolate Mofetil
Moiseev, I. S., Pirogova, O. V., Alyanski, A. L., Babenko, E. V., Gindina, T. L., Darskaya, E. I., Slesarchuk, O. A., Bondarenko, S. N., Afanasyev, B. V.
Biology of Blood & Marrow Transplantation. 2016;22(6):1037-42
Abstract
Clinical efficacy of post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis has been demonstrated in haploidentical and HLA-matched bone marrow but not in unrelated peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantations. Also, no direct comparisons have been published with current standard of care, combination of antithymocyte globulin (ATG), calcineurin inhibitors, and either methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). Eighty-six adult patients (median age 34 years; range, 18 to 59) with acute myeloblastic and lymphoblastic leukemia underwent unrelated PBSC transplantation with PTCy, tacrolimus, and MMF as GVHD prophylaxis in the single-center trial (clinicaltrial.govNCT02294552). The control group comprised 125 consecutive historical control patients who received ATG, tacrolimus, and methotrexate or MMF. Cumulative incidences of grades II to IV acute (19% versus 45%, P = .0003), grades III to IV acute (4% versus 27%, P < .0001), and chronic GVHD (16% versus 65%, P < .0001) were significantly lower in the PTCy compared with the ATG group. PTCy-based prophylaxis was associated with reduced incidence of nonrelapse mortality (16% versus 36%, P = .005; HR, .55; 95% CI, .34 to .89) and improved overall survival (69% versus 40%, P = .0007; HR, .43; 95% CI, .26 to .70), event-free survival (65% versus 38%, P = .0006; HR, .49; 95% CI, .31 to .78), and GVHD relapse-free survival (52% versus 12%, P < .0001). PTCy-based prophylaxis also had a better safety profile compared with ATG with reduced incidence of veno-occlusive disease, cytomegalovirus reactivation, invasive mycosis, and reduced severity of mucositis. In this study we demonstrated that PTCy in combination with tacrolimus and MMF is a safe and effective GVHD prophylaxis for unrelated PBSC transplantation. Although there are several limitations of the historical control approach, this study suggests the superiority of a PTCy-based approach over an ATG-based prophylaxis. Copyright © 2016 The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.