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1.
Outcomes of toxoplasmosis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and the role of antimicrobial prophylaxis
Malek, A. E., Al-Juhaishi, T., Milton, D. R., Ramdial, J. L., Daher, M., Olson, A. L., Srour, S. A., Alatrash, G., Oran, B., Mehta, R. S., et al
Bone marrow transplantation. 2024
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Incidence and Risk Factors of Early Onset VOD/SOS Differ in Younger vs Older Adults After Stem Cell Transplantation
Marcoux, C., Saliba, R. M., Wallis, W., Khazal, S. J., Ragoonanan, D., Rondon, G., Tewari, P., Popat, U. R., Oran, B., Olson, A. L., et al
Blood advances. 2024
Abstract
Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). While increasing awareness and modern transplant techniques have mitigated risk, the interaction of historic risk factors in the current era with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) is unknown. We performed a retrospective single center analysis of adult patients 18 years or older undergoing allo-SCT (N=1561) using predominately PTCy as GVHD prophylaxis (72%). We found a higher rate of VOD at 16.8% (20/119) in those aged ≤ 25 years compared to 3.8% (55/1442) in those >25 years, with unique predictors of VOD within each cohort. Multivariate classification and regression tree (CART) analysis confirmed age as the primary independent determinant of the rate of VOD. Within patients aged 18-25 years, disease risk index (DRI) (31% with high/very high DRI vs 12% low/intermediate DRI; p=0.03) and prior lines of chemotherapy (24% with >1 vs 6% with ≤1, p=0.03) were the strongest predictors of VOD. Incidence of VOD in patients > 25 years of age consistently ranged between 3-5% across most risk factors evaluated, with only hepatic factors (baseline elevation of bilirubin, aspartate transferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT)) or gemtuzumab exposure associated with increased rates of VOD. There was no significant difference in rates of VOD in those receiving PTCy compared to those receiving alternate GVHD prophylaxis. Our data highlight the differences in incidence and predictors in VOD between younger (≤25) and older (>25) adults undergoing allo-SCT.
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3.
Myeloablative Fractionated Busulfan for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant in Older Patients or Patients with Comorbidities
Popat, U. R., Pasvolsky, O., Bassett, R., Mehta, R. S., Olson, A. L., Chen, J., Alousi, A. M., Al-Atrash, G., Bashir, Q., Gulbis, A. M., et al
Blood advances. 2023
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
Traditional conditioning regimens for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHCT) provide suboptimal outcomes, especially for older patients and those with comorbidities. We hypothesized that a fractionated myeloablative busulfan dose delivered over an extended period would reduce non-relapse mortality (NRM), while retaining anti-leukemic effects. Here, we performed a phase II trial for adults with hematological malignancies receiving matched related or unrelated alloHCT. Participants received busulfan 80mg/m2 outpatient on days -20 and -13 before transplant. Fludarabine 40mg/m2 was given on days -6 to -2 followed by busulfan dosed to achieve a target area under the curve of 20,000mol/min for the whole course. The primary endpoint was day 100 NRM. Seventy-eight patients were included, with a median age of 61 (range 39-70) years, transplanted for acute leukemia (24%), MDS (27%), or MPD/CML (44%). HCT specific comorbidity index (HCT-CI) was >3 in 34 (44%). With a median follow-up of 36.4 (range 2.9-51.5) months, 100-day, 1-year and 3-year NRM was 3.8% (95%CI, 0-8.1%), 8% (95%CI, 2-14%), and 9.3% (95%CI, 2.6-15.9%), without a significant difference by age or HCT-CI score. One-year and 3-year relapse incidence was 10% (95%CI, 4-17%) and 18% (95%CI, 9-27%), respectively. Three-year overall survival was 80% (95%CI, 72-90%) and was similar for patients >60 and <60 years of age, as well as those with HCT-CI>3 and HCT-CI<3. Overall, we found that a myeloablative fractionated busulfan regimen has low NRM without an increase in relapse rate, resulting in promising survival, even in older patients or in patients with comorbidities.
PICO Summary
Population
Adults with haematological malignancies receiving matched related or unrelated allogeneic transplant, from a single centre in USA (n=78).
Intervention
Busulfan 80mg/m2 outpatient on days -20 and -13 before transplant, fludarabine 40mg/m2 on days -6 to -2 followed by busulfan dosed to achieve a target area under the curve of 20,000mol/min for the whole course
Comparison
None
Outcome
With a median follow-up of 36.4 (range 2.9-51.5) months, 100-day, 1-year and 3-year non-relapse mortality was 3.8% (95%CI, 0-8.1%), 8% (95%CI, 2-14%), and 9.3% (95%CI, 2.6-15.9%), without a significant difference by age or HCT-CI score. One-year and 3-year relapse incidence was 10% (95%CI, 4-17%) and 18% (95%CI, 9-27%), respectively. Three-year overall survival was 80% (95%CI, 72-90%) and was similar for patients >60 and <60 years of age, as well as those with HCT-CI>3 and HCT-CI<3.
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4.
Molecular disparity of HLA-DPB1 is associated with the development of subsequent solid cancer after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Zou, J., Kongtim, P., Oran, B., Srour, S. A., Greenbaum, U., Carmazzi, Y., Rondon, G., Ciurea, S. O., Ma, Q., Shpall, E. J., et al
Cancer. 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND An increased incidence of subsequent solid cancers (SSCs) has been reported in long-term survivors of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), and SSC is associated with inferior mortality and morbidity. Previous studies showed that the incidence of SSC is significantly higher in those who underwent allo-HSCT from HLA-mismatched donors, suggesting that persistent alloimmunity may predispose patients to SSCs. It was recently reported that, in a cohort of patients who received allo-HSCT from an unrelated donor matched at HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1/3/4/5, and -DQB1 loci, HLA-DPB1 alloimmunity determined by high mismatched eplets (MEs) and Predicted Indirectly Recognizable HLA Epitopes (PIRCHE) score (PS), was associated with relapse protection and increased risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). METHODS In the present study, the impact of HLA-DPB1 alloimmunity assessed by molecular mismatch algorithms on the development of SSCs in a cohort of 1514 patients who underwent allo-HSCT for hematologic malignancies was further investigated. ME load at the HLA-DPB1 locus was measured using the HLAMatchmaker module incorporated in HLA Fusion software, and the PS for mismatched HLA-DPB1 was calculated using the HSCT module from the PIRCHE online matching service. RESULTS In multivariable analysis after adjusting for baseline risk factors, higher ME, PS-I, and PS-II in the GVH direction, but not in the HVG direction, were associated with an increased risk of SSCs (ME: subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] 1.58, p = .01; PS-I: SHR 1.59, p = .009; PS-II: SHR 1.71, p = .003). In contrast, nonpermissive HLA-DPB1 mismatches defined by the conventional T-cell epitope algorithm were not predictive of the risk of SSCs. Moreover, posttransplant cyclophosphamide-based GVHD prophylaxis was associated with a reduced risk of SSC (SHR 0.34, p = .021). CONCLUSIONS These results indicate for the first time that increased GVH alloreactivity could contribute to the development of SSCs in allo-HSCT survivors.
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5.
Transplant Outcomes of Myelofibrosis with Busulfan and Fludarabine Myeloablative Conditioning
Joseph, J., Srour, S. A., Milton, D. R., Ramdial, J. L., Saini, N. Y., Olson, A. L., Bashir, Q., Oran, B., Alousi, A. M., Hosing, C., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2023
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
BACKGROUND Outcomes of myelofibrosis with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) have improved over the past decade and are partly related to advances in supportive treatments and conditioning regimens. Several factors are known to predict transplant outcomes. However, most studies lack homogeneity in the conditioning regimen used, which limits their ability to assess prognostic factors on transplant outcomes. OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine the risk factors that predict transplant outcomes in patients with myelofibrosis who underwent matched or mismatched allo-SCT using a uniform myeloablative conditioning regimen consisting of busulfan and fludarabine with tacrolimus and methotrexate-based graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis. STUDY DESIGN This single-center study included patients with myelofibrosis who underwent allo-SCT with a matched unrelated donor (MUD), matched related donor (MRD), or mismatched unrelated donor (MMUD) and received busulfan and fludarabine conditioning with methotrexate/tacrolimus-based GVHD prophylaxis. RESULTS Sixty-five patients with myelofibrosis met the criteria and were included in the study. At a median follow-up of 35.6 months, the 3-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR), non-relapse mortality (NRM), and overall survival (OS) for all study patients were 27%, 20%, and 65%, respectively. In a multivariable analysis for CIR, prior use of JAK inhibitors was significantly associated with a decreased risk of relapse (HR [95% CI], 0.33 [0.11-0.99]; p = 0.048). For NRM, HCT-CI (≥3 vs. <3, 10.09 [2.09-48.76]; p=0.004) and donor type (MUD vs. MRD, 5.38 [1.14-25.30]; p=0.033 and MMUD vs. MRD, 10.73 [1.05-109.4]; p=0.045) were associated with an increased risk of mortality. Likewise for OS, HCT-CI (≥3 vs. <3, 3.31 [1.22-8.99]; p = 0.019) and donor type (MMUD vs. MRD, 5.20 [1.35-19.98]; p = 0.016) were significantly associated with inferior survival. Longer time from diagnosis to allo-SCT seemed to confer worse survival but this didn't reach statistical significance (>12 months vs. ≤12 months: NRM, 7.20 [0.96-53.94]; p=0.055 and OS, 2.60 [0.95-7.14]; p=0.06). CONCLUSIONS In a homogenous cohort of myelofibrosis patients uniformly treated with busulfan/fludarabine myeloablative conditioning and methotrexate-based GVHD prophylaxis, we showed that donor choice and HCT-CI are the two strongest predictors for improved survival after allo-SCT.
PICO Summary
Population
People with myelofibrosis who underwent allo-SCT with a matched unrelated donor (MUD), matched related donor (MRD), or mismatched unrelated donor (MMUD) at a single centre in USA (n=176)
Intervention
Cohort for analysis: all who received myeloablative conditioning regimen consisting of busulfan and fludarabine with tacrolimus and methotrexate-based graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis (n=65)
Comparison
None
Outcome
At a median follow-up of 35.6 months, the 3-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR), non-relapse mortality (NRM), and overall survival (OS) for all study patients were 27%, 20%, and 65%, respectively. In a multivariable analysis for CIR, prior use of JAK inhibitors was significantly associated with a decreased risk of relapse (HR [95% CI], 0.33 [0.11-0.99]). For NRM, HCT-CI (>/=3 vs. <3, 10.09 [2.09-48.76]) and donor type (MUD vs. MRD, 5.38 [1.14-25.30] and MMUD vs. MRD, 10.73 [1.05-109.4]) were associated with an increased risk of mortality. Likewise for OS, HCT-CI (>/=3 vs. <3, 3.31 [1.22-8.99];) and donor type (MMUD vs. MRD, 5.20 [1.35-19.98]) were significantly associated with inferior survival. Longer time from diagnosis to allo-SCT seemed to confer worse survival but this didn't reach statistical significance (>12 months vs. </=12 months: NRM, 7.20 [0.96-53.94] and OS, 2.60 [0.95-7.14]).
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6.
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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7.
Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide vs Tacrolimus and Methotrexate Graft-versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis For HLA-Matched Donor Transplantation
Mehta, R. S., Saliba, R. M., Rondon, G., Al-Atrash, G., Bashir, Q., Hosing, C. M., Kebriaei, P., Khouri, I., Nieto, Y., Oran, B., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND The use of post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis is increasing in patients undergoing HLA-matched sibling (MSD) or unrelated (MUD) donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), but data about its comparative efficacy against the traditional GVHD prophylaxis are scarce. OBJECTIVES Two broad questions assessed in this study were: (a) comparison of PTCy-based GVHD prophylaxis vs Tac/MTX (without ATG) in the MSD and (b) comparison of PTCy-based GVHD prophylaxis vs Tac/MTX (with ATG) in the MUD group. STUDY DESIGN This retrospective single-center study analyzed the outcomes of 964 patients who received Tac/MTX (n=578) vs PTCy-based (n=386) GVHD prophylaxis. All MUD recipients in the Tac/MTX group also received ATG; thus, separate analyses were conducted for MSD (n=412) and MUD (n=552) cohorts. In the MUD cohort, 306 patients received Tac/MTX/ATG and 246 received PTCy-based GVHD prophylaxis. In the MSD cohort, 272 received Tac/MTX and 140 received PTCy-based prophylaxis. RESULTS Both PTCy groups included somewhat older patients than the Tac/MTX groups and more patients had myeloid malignancy (85-90% vs 59-64%, respectively). A majority of patients in all groups received myeloablative conditioning and peripheral blood graft. Both PTCy groups had a significantly delayed neutrophil engraftment, higher risk of hemorrhagic cystitis, and higher risk of bacterial infections than the Tac/MTX groups. The risks of viral infections and related deaths were significantly higher in Tac/MTX group in the MUD cohort. In multivariate analysis, the risk of grade III-IV acute GVHD was similar in PTCy and Tac/MTX groups in both MSD and MUD cohorts, but the risk of chronic GVHD was significantly lower with PTCy in the MSD cohort. PTCy was associated with a significantly lower risk of non-relapse mortality and better progression-free survival in the MUD. PTCy was associated with improved GRFS in both MSD and MUD groups. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest a benefit of using PTCy-based GVHD prophylaxis in both MSD (vs Tac/MTX) and MUD (vs Tac/MTX/ATG) HCT.
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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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9.
Acute graft-versus-host disease is the foremost cause of late nonrelapse mortality
Ramdial, J. L., Mehta, R. S., Saliba, R. M., Alousi, A. M., Bashir, Q., Hosing, C., Kebriaei, P., Olson, A. L., Oran, B., Qazilbash, M. H., et al
Bone marrow transplantation. 2021
Abstract
Despite low nonrelapse mortality (NRM) at day 100 after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), NRM at 1 year remains substantial. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed 199 patients who were treated on a phase II clinical trial assessing safety and efficacy of myeloablative fractionated busulfan and fludarabine conditioning regimen for hematologic malignancies. The goal of the study was to identify factors associated with NRM occurring between days 101 and 365 post-HCT and generate a hypothesis for future studies to reduce the risk of NRM at 1 year. We found that a vast majority (83%) of patients who experienced NRM between days 101 and 365 had prior grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which was the leading cause of death either by itself (33.3%) or complicated by infections (37.5%). In multivariate analysis, grade II-IV acute GVHD (hazard ratio (HR) 2.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-6.6, p?=?0.01) was the only significant predictor of NRM between days 101 and 365. Measures to reduce the risk of acute GVHD could lower the risk of NRM at 1 year and improve overall survival.
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10.
Myeloablative Fractionated Busulfan with Fludarabine in Older Patients: Long Term Disease-Specific Outcomes of a Prospective Phase II Clinical Trial
Mehta, R. S., Bassett, R., Chen, J., Valdez, B. C., Kawedia, J., Alousi, A. M., Anderlini, P., Al-Atrash, G., Bashir, Q., Ciurea, S. O., et al
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND Compared to reduced-intensity conditioning regimen, myeloablative conditioning (MAC) for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) reduces relapse but is avoided in older patients due to higher non-relapse mortality (NRM). To meet the need for a myeloablative regimen for older patients, we developed a novel fludarabine and busulfan MAC regimen. We fractionated the dose of busulfan and gave it for six days over a two-week period and demonstrated the feasibility and safety of this approach. However, the disease-specific efficacy of this regimen is not known. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to estimate the efficacy of fractionated busulfan regimen by estimating diseases specific survival outcomes. STUDY DESIGN The conditioning regimen consisted of busulfan and fludarabine. On days -13 and -12 before HCT, patients received 80mg/m(2) busulfan intravenously (IV) daily in an outpatient clinic. Additional chemotherapy was administered during inpatient treatment from day -6 through day -3, including fludarabine 40mg/m(2) and busulfan IV once daily. The dosing of busulfan was determined from PK analyses to achieve for the course a target AUC of 20,000±12% µmol.min, which is close to the average exposure of myeloablative dose of busulfan. 150 patients with high-risk hematological malignancies up to 75 years were enrolled on this prospective phase II study. The objective was to evaluate NRM, relapse, survival, the rates of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and long-term complications. RESULTS The median age of the patient population was 61 years (interquartile range, 55-67). The most common diagnoses were acute myeloid leukemia (AML; N=59, 39.3%), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS; n=29, 19.3%), and myelofibrosis (MF; N=22, 14.7%). Most had an unrelated donor (n=93, 62%) and received peripheral blood graft (n=110, 73.3%). Over half had an HCT-Specific Comorbidity Index of =3 (n=79, 52.7%). The median follow-up among survivors was 43.4 months (IQR, 38.9-50.4). In patients with AML in complete remission, MDS, and myelofibrosis, 3 year OS was 66.7% (95% CI, 50.2-88.5%), 43.6% (95% CI, 28.6-66.4%), and 59.1% (95% CI, 41.7-83.7%) respectively. The cumulative incidence of NRM was 22% (15.3%-28.7%), extensive chronic GVHD was 27% (95% CI, 20-34%), bronchiolitis obliterans was 4.7% (95% CI, 1.3-8.1%), and secondary malignancies was 8.7% (95% CI, 4.1-13.2%) at 3 years. CONCLUSION Lengthening the duration of busulfan (fractionation) permits safe delivery of myeloablative conditioning in older patients, leading to prolonged survival.