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1.
Low rate of nonrelapse mortality in under 4-year-olds with ALL given chemo-conditioning for HSCT: Phase III FORUM study
Bader, P., Poetschger, U., Dalle, J. H., Moser, L. M., Balduzzi, A. C., Ansari, M., Buechner, J., Güngör, T., Ifversen, M., Kriván, G., et al
Blood advances. 2023
Abstract
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is highly effective for treating pediatric high-risk or relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In young children, total body irradiation (TBI) is associated with severe late sequelae. In the FORUM study (NCT01949129), we assessed safety, event-free survival (EFS), and overall survival (OS) of two TBI-free conditioning regimens in children with ALL <4 years old. Patients received fludarabine (Flu), thiotepa (Thio), and either busulfan (Bu) or treosulfan (Treo) before HSCT. From 2013 to 2021, 191 children were transplanted and observed for ≥6 months (median follow-up: 3 years). 3-year OS was 0.63 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.52-0.72) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.64-0.84) for Flu/Thio/Bu and Flu/Thio/Treo (p = 0.075), respectively. 3-year EFS was 0.52 (95% CI: 0.41-0.61) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.39-0.62), respectively (p = 0.794). Cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality (NRM) and relapse at 3 years were 0.06 (95% CI: 0.02-0.12) versus 0.03 (95% CI: <0.01-0.09) (p = 0.406) and 0.42 (95% CI: 0.31-0.52) versus 0.45 (95% CI: 0.34-0.56) (p = 0.920), respectively. Grade >1 acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) occurred in 29% of patients receiving Flu/Thio/Bu and 17% receiving Flu/Thio/Treo (p = 0.049), while grade 3-4 occurred in 10% and 9% (p = 0.813). 3-year incidence of chronic GvHD was 0.07 (95% CI: 0.03-0.13) versus 0.05 (95% CI: 0.02-0.11), respectively (p = 0.518). In conclusion, both chemo-conditioning regimens were well tolerated and NRM was low. However, relapse was the major cause of treatment failure.
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2.
Upper and/or lower respiratory tract infection caused by human metapneumovirus after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Piñana, J. L., Tridello, G., Xhaard, A., Wendel, L., Montoro, J., Vazquez, L., Heras, I., Ljungman, P., Mikulska, M., Salmenniemi, U., et al
The Journal of infectious diseases. 2023
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Abstract
PATIENTS AND METHODS This retrospective multicenter cohort study examined the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and risk factors for poor outcomes associated with human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infections in recipients of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT). RESULTS We included 428 allo-HCT recipients who developed 438 hMPV infection episodes between January 2012 and January 2019. Most recipients were adults (93%). hMPV infections were diagnosed at a median of 373 days after allo-HCT. The infections were categorized as upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) or lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD), with 60% and 40% of cases, respectively. Patients with hMPV LRTD experienced the infection earlier in the transplant course and had higher rates of lymphopenia, neutropenia, corticosteroid use, and ribavirin therapy. Multivariate analysis identified lymphopenia and corticosteroid use (>30 mg/d) as independent risk factors for LRTD occurrence. The overall mortality at day 30 after hMPV detection was 2% for URTD, 12% for possible LRTD, and 21% for proven LRTD. Lymphopenia was the only independent risk factor associated with day 30 mortality in LRTD cases. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight the significance of lymphopenia and corticosteroid use in the development and severity of hMPV infections after allo-HCT, with lymphopenia being a predictor of higher mortality in LRTD cases.
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3.
Analysis of incidence and risk factors of the multidrug resistant gastrointestinal tract infection in children and adolescents undergoing allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation: a nationwide study
Salamonowicz-Bodzioch, M., Frączkiewicz, J., Czyżewski, K., Zając-Spychała, O., Gorczyńska, E., Wróbel, G., Kazanowska, B., Sęga-Pondel, D., Węcławek-Tompol, J., Ussowicz, M., et al
Annals of hematology. 2022;101(1):191-201
Abstract
The aim of this multi-center study was to evaluate the incidence, clinical course, and risk factors for bacterial multidrug-resistant (MDR) gastrointestinal tract infections (GTI) among children undergoing allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation. A total number of 175 pediatric patients (aged 1-18 years), transplanted between January 2018 and December 2019, who were tested for bacterial colonization/infection were enrolled into this multi-center analysis. Episodes of MDR GTI occurred in 77/175 (44%) patients. In multivariate analysis for higher GTI incidence, the following factors were significant: matched-unrelated donor (MUD) transplantation, HLA mismatch, presence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and gut GVHD. The most common GTI were Clostridium difficile (CDI), multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli extended-spectrum β-lactamase), and Enterococcus HLAR (high-level aminoglycoside-resistant). No MDR GTI-attributed deaths were reported. MDR GTI is a frequent complication after HCT among children, causes prolonged hospitalization, but rarely contributes to death. We identified risk factors of MDR GTI development in children, with focus on GVHD and unrelated donor and HLA mismatch. We conclude that the presence of Clostridiales plays an important anti-inflammatory homeostatic role and decreases incidence of GVHD or alleviate its course.
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Management of Chronic Graft-vs.-Host Disease in Children and Adolescents With ALL: Present Status and Model for a Personalised Management Plan
Sobkowiak-Sobierajska, A., Lindemans, C., Sykora, T., Wachowiak, J., Dalle, J. H., Bonig, H., Gennery, A., Lawitschka, A.
Frontiers in pediatrics. 2022;10:808103
Abstract
Herein we review current practice regarding the management of chronic graft-vs.-host disease (cGvHD) in paediatric patients after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Topics covered include: (i) the epidemiology of cGvHD; (ii) an overview of advances in our understanding cGvHD pathogenesis; (iii) current knowledge regarding risk factors for cGvHD and prevention strategies complemented by biomarkers; (iii) the paediatric aspects of the 2014 National Institutes for Health-defined diagnosis and grading of cGvHD; and (iv) current options for cGvHD treatment. We cover topical therapy and newly approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors, emphasising the use of immunomodulatory approaches in the context of the delicate counterbalance between immunosuppression and immune reconstitution as well as risks of relapse and infectious complications. We examine real-world approaches of response assessment and tapering schedules of treatment. Furthermore, we report on the optimal timepoints for therapeutic interventions and changes in relation to immune reconstitution and risk of relapse/infection. Additionally, we review the different options for anti-infectious prophylaxis. Finally, we put forth a theory of a holistic view of paediatric cGvHD and its associated manifestations and propose a checklist for individualised risk evaluation with aggregated considerations including site-specific cGvHD evaluation with attention to each individual's GvHD history, previous medical history, comorbidities, and personal tolerance and psychosocial circumstances. To complement this checklist, we present a treatment algorithm using representative patients to inform the personalised management plans for patients with cGvHD after HSCT for ALL who are at high risk of relapse.
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Prospective analysis of BKV hemorrhagic cystitis in children and adolescents undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation
Salamonowicz-Bodzioch, M., Fraczkiewicz, J., Czyzewski, K., Zajac-Spychala, O., Gorczynska, E., Panasiuk, A., Ussowicz, M., Kalwak, K., Szmit, Z., Wróbel, G., et al
Annals of hematology. 2021
Abstract
BK virus is one of the most common causes of hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) in children undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Viruses can be found in urine and serum samples of immunocompromised patients. Malignant diseases, age, cell source, day of granulocyte reconstitution, conditioning regimen, or use of total body irradiation may play an important role in BKV epidemiology, development of hemorrhagic cystitis course, and outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence, clinical course, and risk factors for BKV-HC in children undergoing HCT. A total number of 133 patients who were prospectively tested for BKV colonization/infection were enrolled into this multicenter analysis. Episodes of BKV-HC occurred in 36/133 (27%) enrolled subjects. In a univariate analysis for BKV-HC incidence, the following factors were significant: age >5 years, peripheral blood transplantation, matched unrelated donor (MUD) transplantation, busulfan-cyclophosphamide-melphalan conditioning regimen, and acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) diagnosis. Presence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in liver and gut GVHD was a significant risk factor of BKV-HC. No BKV-attributed deaths were reported. In multivariate analysis, the incidence of HC was significantly higher in patients with AML, age >5 years, MUD transplants, and children with GVHD. HC is a frequent complication after HCT among children causes prolonged hospitalization but rarely contributes to death. We identified risk factors of BKV-HC development in children, with focus on aGVHD: we concluded that excessive immune reaction connected with GVHD and immunosuppression drugs might play a pivotal role in the development of BKV-HC.
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Myeloablative conditioning for allo-HSCT in pediatric ALL: FTBI or chemotherapy?-A multicenter EBMT-PDWP study
Willasch, A. M., Peters, C., Sedlacek, P., Dalle, J. H., Kitra-Roussou, V., Yesilipek, A., Wachowiak, J., Lankester, A., Prete, A., Hamidieh, A. A., et al
Bone marrow transplantation. 2020
Abstract
Although most children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receive fractionated total body irradiation (FTBI) as myeloablative conditioning (MAC) for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), it is an important matter of debate if chemotherapy can effectively replace FTBI. To compare outcomes after FTBI versus chemotherapy-based conditioning (CC), we performed a retrospective EBMT registry study. Children aged 2-18 years after MAC for first allo-HSCT of bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) from matched-related (MRD) or unrelated donors (UD) in first (CR1) or second remission (CR2) between 2000 and 2012 were included. Propensity score weighting was used to control pretreatment imbalances of the observed variables. 3.054 patients were analyzed. CR1 (1.498): median follow-up (FU) after FTBI (1.285) and CC (213) was 6.8 and 6.1 years. Survivals were not significantly different. CR2 (1.556): median FU after FTBI (1.345) and CC (211) was 6.2 years. Outcomes after FTBI were superior as compared with CC with regard to overall survival (OS), leukemia-free survival (LFS), relapse incidence (RI), and nonrelapse mortality (NRM). However, we must emphasize the preliminary character of the results of this retrospective "real-world-practice" study. These findings will be prospectively assessed in the ALL SCTped 2012 FORUM trial.
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Pediatric acute graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis and treatment: Real-life approach reveals dissimilarities compared to published recommendations
Lawitschka, A., Lucchini, G., Strahm, B., Dalle, J. H., Balduzzi, A., Gibson, B., Diaz De Heredia, C., Wachowiak, J., Dalissier, A., Vettenranta, K., et al
Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation. 2020
Abstract
Pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) practices differ from those of adults, particularly the heterogeneity of transplantable non-malignant diseases and the lower incidence of Graft-versus-Host-Disease (GVHD). Several guidelines regarding the management of acute (a) GVHD in adult HCT have been published. We aimed to capture the real-life approaches for pediatric aGVHD prophylaxis/treatment, and data from 75/193 (response rate 39%) EBMT centers (26 countries) were included, representing half (48%) of the pediatric EBMT-HCT activity. Results with ≥75% approval from respondents (74/75) for GVHD prophylaxis after myeloablative HCT for malignancies partially contradict published guidelines: single-agent cyclosporine A (CsA) was used for matched-sibling donor HCT in 47%; blood CsA levels were reported lower; the relapse risk in malignant diseases influenced GVHD prophylaxis with early withdrawal of CsA; distinct longer duration of CsA was employed in non-malignant diseases. Most centers used additional anti-thymocyte globulin for matched-unrelated and mismatched donor HCT, but not for matched-siblings. Regarding prophylaxis in non-myeloablative conditioning (mainly for non-malignant diseases) responses showed broad heterogeneity. High conformity was found for first-line treatment; however, results regarding steroid-refractory aGVHD indicate an earlier diagnosis in children. Our findings highlight the need for standardized pediatric approaches towards aGVHD prophylaxis/treatment differentiated for malignant and non-malignant underlying diseases.
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8.
The impact of donor type on the outcome of pediatric patients with very high risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A study of the ALL SCT 2003 BFM-SG and 2007-BFM-International SG
Dalle, J. H., Balduzzi, A., Bader, P., Pieczonka, A., Yaniv, I., Lankester, A., Bierings, M., Yesilipek, A., Sedlacek, P., Ifversen, M., et al
Bone marrow transplantation. 2020
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
Allogeneic HSCT represents the only potentially curative treatment for very high risk (VHR) ALL. Two consecutive international prospective studies, ALL-SCT-(I)BFM 2003 and 2007 were conducted in 1150 pediatric patients. 569 presented with VHR disease leading to any kind of HSCT. All patients >2 year old were transplanted after TBI-based MAC. The median follow-up was 5 years. 463 patients were transplanted from matched donor (MD) and 106 from mismatched donor (MMD). 214 were in CR1. Stem cell source was unmanipulated BM for 330 patients, unmanipulated PBSC for 135, ex vivo T-cell depleted PBSC for 62 and cord-blood for 26. There were more advanced disease, more ex vivo T-cell depletion, and more chemotherapy based conditioning regimen for patients transplanted from MMD as compared to those transplanted from MSD or MD. Median follow up (reversed Kaplan Meier estimator) was 4.99 years, median follow up of survivals was 4.88, range (0.01-11.72) years. The 4-year CI of extensive cGvHD was 13?±?2% and 17?±?4% (p?=?NS) for the patients transplanted from MD and MMD, respectively. 4-year EFS was statistically better for patients transplanted from MD (60?±?2% vs. 42?±?5%, p?0.001) for the whole cohort. This difference does not exist if considering separately patients treated in the most recent study. There was no difference in 4-year CI of relapse. The 4-year NRM was lower for patients transplanted from MD (9?±?1% vs. 23?±?4%, p?0.001). In multivariate analysis, donor-type appears as a negative risk-factor for OS, EFS, and NRM. This paper demonstrates the impact of donor type on overall results of allogeneic stem cell transplantation for very-high risk pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia with worse results when using MMD stem cell source.
PICO Summary
Population
Children with very high risk acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (n=569)
Intervention
Matched donor (MD) or matched sibling donor (MSD) transplantation (n=463)
Comparison
Mismatched donor transplantation (MMD, n=106)
Outcome
There were more advanced disease, more ex vivo T-cell depletion, and more chemotherapy based conditioning regimen for patients transplanted from MMD as compared to those transplanted from MSD or MD. Median follow up (reversed Kaplan Meier estimator) was 4.99 years,median follow up of survivals was 4.88 years. The 4-year CI of extensive cGvHD was 13± 2% and 17 ± 4% (p=NS) for the patients transplanted from MD and MMD, respectively. 4-year EFS was statistically better for patients transplanted from MD (60±2% vs. 42±5%) for the whole cohort. This difference does not exist if considering separately patients treated in the most recent study. There was no difference in 4-year CI of relapse. The 4-year NRM was lower for patients transplanted from MD (9±1% vs. 23±4%). In multivariate analysis, donor-type appears as a negative risk-factor for OS, EFS, and NRM.
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Outcome of children relapsing after first allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukaemia: a retrospective I-BFM analysis of 333 children
Uden, T., Bertaina, A., Abrahamsson, J., Ansari, M., Balduzzi, A., Bourquin, J. P., Gerhardt, C., Bierings, M., Hasle, H., Lankester, A., et al
British journal of haematology. 2020
Abstract
Outcome of 333 children with acute myeloid leukaemia relapsing after a first allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation was analyzed. Four-year probability of overall survival (4y-pOS) was 14%. 4y-pOS for 122 children receiving a second haematopoietic stem cell transplantation was 31% and 3% for those that did not (P = <0.0001). Achievement of a subsequent remission impacted survival (P = <0.0001). For patients receiving a second transplant survival with or without achieving a subsequent remission was comparable. Graft source (bone marrow vs. peripheral blood stem cells, P = 0.046) and donor choice (matched family vs. matched unrelated donor, P = 0.029) positively impacted survival after relapse. Disease recurrence and non-relapse mortality at four years reached 45% and 22%.
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Age-dependent determinants of infectious complications profile in children and adults after hematopoietic cell transplantation: lesson from the nationwide study
Czyzewski, K., Styczynski, J., Giebel, S., Fraczkiewicz, J., Salamonowicz, M., Zajac-Spychala, O., Zaucha-Prazmo, A., Drozd-Sokolowska, J., Waszczuk-Gajda, A., Dybko, J., et al
Annals of hematology. 2019
Abstract
Incidence and outcome of microbiologically documented bacterial/viral infections and invasive fungal disease (IFD) in children and adults after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) were compared in 650 children and 3200 adults in multicenter cross-sectional nationwide study. Infections were diagnosed in 60.8% children and 35.0% adults, including respectively 69.1% and 63.5% allo-HCT, and 33.1% and 20.8% auto-HCT patients. The incidence of bacterial infections was higher in children (36.0% vs 27.6%; p < 0.0001). Infections with Gram-negative bacteria were more frequent than Gram-positives in adults (64.6% vs 44.8%; p < 0.0001). Outcome of bacterial infections was better in children (95.5% vs 91.4%; p = 0.0011). The IFD incidence (25.3% vs 6.3%; p < 0.0001) and outcome (88.0% vs 74.9%; p < 0.0001) were higher in children. The incidence of viral infections was higher in children after allo-HCT (56.3% vs 29.3%; p < 0.0001), and auto-HCT (6.6% vs 0.8%; p < 0.0001). Outcome of viral infections was better in children (98.6% vs 92.3%; p = 0.0096). Infection-related mortality was 7.8% in children and 18.4% in adults (p < 0.0001). No child after auto-HCT died of infection. Adult age, mismatched transplants, acute leukemia, chronic GVHD, CMV reactivation, infection with Gram-negatives, and duration of infection > 21 days were risk factors for death from infection. In conclusion, pediatric patients have 2.9-fold higher incidence and 2.5-fold better outcome of infections than adults after HCT.