Very long-term follow-up of aplastic anemia treated with immunosuppressive therapy or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: Since the 1970s outcome of aplastic anemia (AA) patients has improved significantly due to the introduction of immunosuppressive therapy (IST) and allogeneic hematopoietic transplantation (HCT). However, patients may suffer from persistent disease, relapse, clonal evolution, graft-versus-host disease and other late effects. Here, we analyse very long-term outcome of all AA patients at our institution comparing not only survival, but also response status and complications. METHODS: Patient charts of all 302 AA patients treated between 1973 and 2017 at the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: First line treatment was IST in 226 (75%) and HCT in 76 (25%) patients. Overall survival at 30 years was similar in patients treated initially by HCT and IST (44% (±14%), and 40% (± 9%) respectively, with better results in more recent years. Partial and no response occurred more frequently after IST, relapse incidence after IST was 24 %, whereas non-engraftment and graft failure was documented in 15 patients (19 %) after HCT. Clonal evolution to myelodysplastic syndrome / acute myeloid leukemia was 16 % at 25 years in IST patients, 1.3 % in HCT patients, iron overload (18 versus 4 %, p = 0.002) and cardiovascular events (11 versus 1 %, p=0.011) occured significantly more often in IST than HCT treated patients. The majority of long-term survivors, 96% of those alive at 25 years, were in complete remission at last follow up, irrespective of the initial treatment modality. CONCLUSION: Very long term survivors after AA are those with stable hematopoietic recovery.

Delayed-onset and long-lasting severe neutropenia due to rituximab.

BACKGROUND: Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody, is effective in CD20-positive B-cell lymphoma and is now widely used either as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy. The antibody's toxicity is generally mild and transient. There are reports of protracted neutropenia in patients treated with rituximab. CASE REPORT: We report on a patient with Burkitt's lymphoma treated with the hyper-CVAD chemotherapy regimen combined with rituximab. Four weeks after the five months' treatment marked neutropenia and hypogammaglobulinaemia occurred and persisted for one year. Both laboratory findings were not associated with severe infections in our patient. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed-onset neutropenia is a newly recognised toxicity of rituximab treatment which may last up to one year and be complicated by serious infections.

Quality-adjusted survival analysis shows differences in outcome after immunosuppression or bone marrow transplantation in aplastic anemia.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and immunosuppression (IS) have improved the prognosis of aplastic anemia; both treatments have specific advantages and drawbacks but similar survival rates. Analysis of additional endpoints may help in treatment decisions. In a single-center study, patients with aplastic anemia treated with IS (n=155) or BMT (n=52) were compared for survival, event-free survival, and quality-adjusted time without symptoms and toxicity (Q-TWiST). Probability of overall and event-free survival at 15 years was similar among both groups (BMT 51+/-15% and 25+/-14%, IS 53+/-10% and 27+/-8%), with more early deaths in the transplant group and more late deaths in the IS group. There were differences in terms of mean duration of seven analyzed health states: time with symptoms from treatment-related toxicity (IS 0.36 years, BMT 0.27), transfusion dependency (IS 0.66 years, BMT 0.1 years), partial remission (IS 3.27 years, BMT 1.42), and secondary clonal disorder (IS 0.68 years, BMT 0.04) was significantly longer for IS compared to BMT (p< or =0.001). Patients treated with BMT spent more time with extensive chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) (IS 0 years, BMT 0.96, p<0.023) and in CR without drugs (IS 1.22 years, BMT 2.43, p=0.056). In conclusion, survival, event-free survival, and Q-TWiST are similar. BMT-treated patients had longer periods free from symptoms, while IS-treated patients needed closer medical care, transfusion support, and medications.