Intestinal decontamination of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae after recurrent infections in an immunocompromised host.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Enterobacteriaceae infections are associated with increased morbidity. We describe a 20-year-old hematopoietic cell transplantation recipient with recurrent MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, prolonged intestinal colonization, and subsequent intestinal decontamination. Further study should evaluate stool surveillance, molecular typing, and fecal microbiota transplantation for patients with intestinal MDR Enterobacteriaceae carriage.

Success of allogeneic marrow transplantation for children with severe aplastic anaemia.

Allogeneic marrow transplantation offers curative therapy for children with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA). We report the outcomes of 148 children with SAA who received human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-matched related marrow grafts between 1971 and 2010. Patients were divided into three groups, reflecting changes in conditioning and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis regimens that occurred over time. Patients in Group 1 were conditioned with cyclophosphamide (CY; 200 mg/kg) followed by 'long' (102 d) methotrexate (MTX). Patients in Groups 2 and 3 received CY alone (Group 2) or combined with anti-thymocyte globulin (Group 3) followed by 'short' (days 1, 3, 6, and 11) MTX and ciclosporin (until day 180). With a median follow-up of 25 years, the 5-year survivals were 66%, 95%, and 100% for Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively (overall P < 0·0001). The 3-year estimates of graft rejection were 22%, 32%, and 7%, respectively. The probabilities of grades III-IV acute and 2-year chronic GVHD were 15%, 0%, and 3%, and 21%, 21%, and 10%, respectively. Advances in preparative and GVHD prophylaxis regimens, and supportive care during the past 40 years have led to improved outcomes for children with SAA. These results confirm the use of allogeneic marrow transplantation for children with SAA who have HLA-matched related donors.

National Cancer Institute, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation Consortium First International Consensus Conference on late effects after pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation: the need for pediatric-specific long-term follow-up guidelines.

Existing standards for screening and management of late effects occurring in children who have undergone hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) include recommendations from pediatric cancer networks and consensus guidelines from adult-oriented transplantation societies applicable to all HCT recipients. Although these approaches have significant merit, they are not pediatric HCT-focused, and they do not address post-HCT challenges faced by children with complex nonmalignant disorders. In this article we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of current published recommendations and conclude that pediatric-specific guidelines for post-HCT screening and management would be beneficial to the long-term health of these patients and would promote late effects research in this field. Our panel of late effects experts also provides recommendations for follow-up and therapy of selected post-HCT organ and endocrine complications in pediatric patients.

Randomized trial of hydroxychloroquine for newly diagnosed chronic graft-versus-host disease in children: a Children's Oncology Group study.

The Children's Oncology Group conducted a multicenter Phase III trial for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study evaluated hydroxychloroquine added to standard therapy for children with newly diagnosed cGVHD. The study also used a novel grading and response scoring system and evaluated clinical laboratory correlates of cGVHD. The primary endpoint was complete response (CR) after 9 months of therapy. Fifty-four patients (27 on each arm) were enrolled before closure because of slow accrual. The CR rate was 28% in the hydroxychloroquine arm versus 33% in the placebo arm (odds ratio [OR] = 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.20-2.93, P = .75) for 42 evaluable patients. For 41 patients with severity assessment at enrollment, 20 (49%) were severe and 18 (44%) moderate according to the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference global scoring system. The CR rate was 15% for severe cGVHD and 44% for moderate cGVHD (OR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.05-1.06, P = .07). Although the study could not resolve the primary question, it provided important information for future cGVHD study design in this population.

NCI, NHLBI/PBMTC first international conference on late effects after pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation: endocrine challenges-thyroid dysfunction, growth impairment, bone health, & reproductive risks.

The endocrine system is highly susceptible to damage by high-dose chemotherapy and/or irradiation before hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) during childhood. The specific endocrine organs most affected by HCT include the thyroid gland, the pituitary, and the gonads. In addition, hormones that support development and stability of the skeletal system are also affected. Insufficiency of thyroid hormone is 1 of the most common late sequelae of HCT, and occurs more often in young children. Deficiency in the pituitary's production of growth hormone is a problem of unique concern to the pediatric population. The reproductive risks of HCT depend on the patient's gender and pubertal status at the time of HCT. Pubertal or gonadal failure frequently occurs, especially in females. Infertility risks for both genders remain high, whereas methods of fertility preservation are limited in all but postpubertal males. Bone health post-HCT can be compromised by low bone mineral density as well as avascular necrosis, but the data on both problems in the pediatric HCT population are limited. In this paper, the current state of knowledge, gaps in that knowledge, and recommendations for future research are addressed in detail for each of these systems.

Late effects among pediatric patients followed for nearly 4 decades after transplantation for severe aplastic anemia.

Aplastic anemia (AA), a potentially fatal disease, may be cured with marrow transplantation. Survival in pediatric patients has been excellent early after transplantation, but only limited data are available regarding late effects. This study evaluates late effects among 152 patients followed 1-38 years (median, 21.8 years). Transplantation-preparative regimes were mostly cyclophosphamide with or without antithymocyte globulin. Survival at 30 years for the acquired AA patients is 82%, and for the Fanconi anemia patients it is 58% (P = .01). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that chronic GVHD (P = .02) and Fanconi anemia (P = .03) negatively impacted survival. Two Fanconi patients and 18 acquired AA patients developed a malignancy that was fatal for 4. There was an increased incidence of thyroid function test abnormalities among those who received total body irradiation. Cyclophosphamide recipients demonstrated normal growth, basically normal development, and pregnancies with mostly normal offspring. Quality-of-life studies in adult survivors of this pediatric transplantation cohort indicated that patients were comparable with control patients except for difficulty with health and life insurance. These data indicate that the majority of long-term survivors after transplantation for AA during childhood can have a normal productive life.

A simulation-based comparison of two methods for determining relaxation rates from relaxometry images.

When assessing liver iron content using relaxometry, an average relaxation rate (R1, R2 or R2*) is usually determined from a region of interest or the entire liver. This is commonly performed by fitting the signal decay in individual voxels to an appropriate relaxation function. The voxel-level parameters resulting from the fits are combined to determine the average relaxation rate, and an empirically derived calibration curve is used to convert this single value to iron content. The goal of this study was to compare the precision and accuracy of this voxel-wise fitting to an alternative method that relies on first averaging the signals from all voxels within the region of interest and then determining the relaxation rate from a single fit. Systematic differences were observed when both methods were applied to clinical images. Mathematical simulations were employed to determine which method provided more robust estimates of the true relaxation rate. The mathematical simulations were then expanded to include a range of conditions expected in typical relaxometry images. The results show that voxel-wise fitting skews the relaxation rate estimates and increases variance, particularly when the true relaxation rate is moderate to fast, as it would be in liver with high iron content. The potential impact of these results on clinical decisions is discussed.

Comparative analysis of risk factors for acute graft-versus-host disease and for chronic graft-versus-host disease according to National Institutes of Health consensus criteria.

Risk factors for grades 2-4 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and for chronic GVHD as defined by National Institutes of Health consensus criteria were evaluated and compared in 2941 recipients of first allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation at our center. In multivariate analyses, the profiles of risk factors for acute and chronic GVHD were similar, with some notable differences. Recipient human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatching and the use of unrelated donors had a greater effect on the risk of acute GVHD than on chronic GVHD, whereas the use of female donors for male recipients had a greater effect on the risk of chronic GVHD than on acute GVHD. Total body irradiation was strongly associated with acute GVHD, but had no statistically significant association with chronic GVHD, whereas grafting with mobilized blood cells was strongly associated with chronic GVHD but not with acute GVHD. Older patient age was associated with chronic GVHD, but had no effect on acute GVHD. For all risk factors associated with chronic GVHD, point estimates and confidence intervals were not significantly changed after adjustment for prior acute GVHD. These results suggest that the mechanisms involved in acute and chronic GVHD are not entirely congruent and that chronic GVHD is not simply the end stage of acute GVHD.

A phase I/II study of chemotherapy followed by donor lymphocyte infusion plus interleukin-2 for relapsed acute leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

The efficacy of donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) for treatment of relapsed acute leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is limited. We hypothesized that interleukin-2 (IL-2) combined with DLI after chemotherapy might augment graft-versus-leukemia effects. To identify a safe and effective IL-2 regimen, a phase I/II study of DLI plus IL-2 therapy was performed for such patients. After chemotherapy, 17 patients received DLI (1 × 10(8) CD3/kg for patients with related donors, and 0.1 × 10(8) CD3/kg for those with unrelated donors) and an escalating dose of induction IL-2 (1.0, 2.0, or 3.0 × 10(6) IU/m(2)/day representing levels I [n = 7], Ia [n = 9], and II [n = 1]) for 5 days followed by maintenance (1.0 × 10(6) IU/m(2)/day) for 10 days as a continuous intravenous infusion. Unacceptable IL-2-related toxicities developed in 1 patient at level I, 2 at level Ia, and 1 at level II. Grades III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) developed in 5 patients, and extensive chronic GVHD (cGVHD) developed in 8. Eight patients had a complete remission after chemotherapy prior to DLI, and 2 additional patients had a complete remission after DLI plus IL-2 therapy. In conclusion, the maximal tolerated induction dose of IL-2 combined with DLI appears to be 1.0 × 10(6) IU/m(2)/day. IL-2 administration after DLI might increase the incidence of cGVHD.

Unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation for myelodysplastic syndrome in children.

We describe long-term disease-free survival (DFS) after unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in 118 patients aged ≤18 years. Forty-six patients had refractory cytopenia (RC), 55 refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB), and 17 refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation (RAEB-t). Transplant-related mortality was higher after mismatched BMT (relative risk [RR] 3.29, P = .002). Disease recurrence was more likely with advanced stages of MDS at the time of BMT: RAEB (RR 6.50, P = .01) or RAEB-t (RR 11.00, P = .004). Treatment failure (recurrent disease or death from any cause; inverse of DFS) occurred in 68 patients. Treatment failure was higher after mismatched BMT (RR 2.79, P = .001) and in those with RAEB-t (RR 2.38, P = .02). Secondary MDS or chemotherapy prior to BMT was not associated with recurrence or treatment failure. Similarly, cytogenetic abnormalities were not associated with transplant outcomes. Eight-year DFS for patients with RC after matched and mismatched unrelated donor BMT was 65% and 40%, respectively. Corresponding DFS for patients with RAEB and RAEB-t was 48% and 28%, respectively. When a matched adult unrelated donor is available, BMT should be offered as first-line therapy, and children with RC can be expected to have the best outcome.

Analysis of the role of hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in infants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first remission and MLL gene rearrangements: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

PURPOSE: Although the majority of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are cured with current therapy, the event-free survival (EFS) of infants with ALL, particularly those with mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangements, is only 30% to 40%. Relapse has been the major source of treatment failure for these patients. The parallel Children's Cancer Group (CCG) 1953 and Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) 9407 studies were designed to test the hypothesis that more intensive therapy, including dose intensification of chemotherapy, and hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) would improve the outcome for this group of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred eighty-nine infants (CCG 1953, n = 115; POG 9407, n = 74) were enrolled between October 1996 and August 2000. For infants with the MLL gene rearrangement and an appropriate donor, HSCT was the preferred treatment on CCG 1953 and investigator option on POG 9407 after completion of the second phase of therapy. Fifty-three infants underwent HSCT. RESULTS: The 5-year EFS rate was 48.8% (95% CI, 33.9% to 63.7%) in patients who received HSCT and 48.7% (95% CI, 33.8% to 63.6%) in patients treated with chemotherapy alone (P = .60). Transplantation outcomes were not affected by the preparatory regimen or donor source. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that routine use of HSCT for infants with MLL-rearranged ALL is not indicated. However, limited by small numbers, this study should not be considered the definitive answer to this question.

Conditioning with treosulfan and fludarabine followed by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for high-risk hematologic malignancies.

In this prospective study 60 patients of median age 46 (range: 5-60 years), with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML; n = 44), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; n = 3), or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS; n = 13) were conditioned for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with a treosulfan/fludarabine (Flu) combination. Most patients were considered at high risk for relapse or nonrelapse mortality (NRM). Patients received intravenous treosulfan, 12 g/m(2)/day (n = 5) or 14 g/m(2)/day (n = 55) on days -6 to -4, and Flu (30 mg/m(2)/day) on days -6 to -2, followed by infusion of marrow (n = 7) or peripheral blood stem cells (n = 53) from HLA-identical siblings (n = 30) or unrelated donors (n = 30). All patients engrafted. NRM was 5% at day 100, and 8% at 2 years. With a median follow-up of 22 months, the 2-year relapse-free survival (RFS) for all patients was 58% and 88% for patients without high-risk cytogenetics. The 2-year cumulative incidence of relapse was 33% (15% for patients with MDS, 34% for AML in first remission, 50% for AML or ALL beyond first remission and 63% for AML in refractory relapse). Thus, a treosulfan/Flu regimen was well tolerated and yielded encouraging survival and disease control with minimal NRM. Further trials are warranted to compare treosulfan/Flu to other widely used regimens, and to study the impact of using this regimen in more narrowly defined groups of patients.

Increased cardiometabolic traits in pediatric survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with total body irradiation.

Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may face an increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular late effects. To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for adverse cardiometabolic traits in a contemporary cohort of pediatric ALL survivors, we recruited 48 off-therapy patients in remission treated with conventional chemotherapy and 26 treated with total body irradiation (TBI)-based hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in this cross-sectional pilot study. At a median age of 15 years (range, 8-21 years), HCT survivors were significantly more likely than non-HCT survivors to manifest multiple cardiometabolic traits, including central adiposity, hypertension, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia. Overall, 23.1% of HCT survivors met the criteria for metabolic syndrome (≥ 3 traits), compared with 4.2% of non-HCT survivors (P = .02). HCT survivors also had increased C-reactive protein and leptin levels and decreased adiponectin, suggestive of underlying inflammation and increased visceral fat. In multivariate analyses, history of HCT remained associated with ≥ 2 traits (odds ratio [OR]. 5.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54-17.15) as well as with ≥ 3 traits (OR, 16.72; 95% CI, 1.66-168.80). Other risk factors included any cranial radiation exposure and family history of cardiometabolic disease. In summary, pediatric ALL survivors exposed to TBI-based HCT as well as to any cranial radiation may manifest cardiometabolic traits at an early age and should be screened accordingly.

Life expectancy in patients surviving more than 5 years after hematopoietic cell transplantation.

PURPOSE Hematopoietic cell transplantation can cure hematologic malignancies and other diseases, but this treatment can also cause late complications. Previous studies have evaluated the cumulative effects of late complications on survival, but longer-term effects on life expectancy after hematopoietic cell transplantation have not been assessed. PATIENTS AND METHODS We used standard methods to evaluate mortality, projected life expectancy, and causes of death in a cohort of 2,574 patients who survived without recurrence of the original disease for at least 5 years after allogeneic or autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation from 1970 through 2002. Sex- and age-specific comparisons were made with US population data. Results Estimated survival of the cohort at 20 years after transplantation was 80.4% (95% CI, 78.1% to 82.6%). During 22,923 person-years of follow-up, 357 deaths occurred. Mortality rates remained four- to nine-fold higher than the expected population rate for at least 30 years after transplantation, yielding an estimated 30% lower life expectancy compared with that in the general population, regardless of current age. In rank order, the leading causes of excess deaths were second malignancies and recurrent disease, followed by infections, chronic graft-versus-host disease, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. CONCLUSION Patients who have survived for at least 5 years after hematopoietic cell transplantation without recurrence of the original disease have a high probability of surviving for an additional 15 years, but life expectancy is not fully restored. Further effort is needed to reduce the burden of disease and treatment-related complications in this population.

Hypertension in long-term survivors of pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation.

A retrospective study was conducted to determine risk factors for the development of hypertension (HTN) and to describe the prevalence among long-term survivors of pediatric hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). Records of 689 pediatric patients who survived 5 years or more after HCT, from 1969 to 2004, were reviewed for development of HTN. In children, HTN was defined as either a systolic or diastolic pressure > or =95th percentile according to age, sex, and height. In adults, HTN was defined as systolic pressures > or =140 mmHg and/or diastolic pressures > or =90 mmHg in nondiabetic adults and systolic pressures > or =130 and/or diastolic pressures > or =80 in diabetic adults. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of risk factors associated with HTN. All patients included were off immunosuppressive therapy. Patients had been treated with total body irradiation (TBI) (n = 482, 70%) or non-TBI regimens (n = 207, 30%) followed by autologous (n = 87), related (n = 484), or unrelated donor HCT (n = 118). Median follow-up was 16 (range: 5-36) years. HTN developed in 120 patients with a 30-year cumulative incidence of 36%. Risk factors associated with HTN were acute kidney injury (AKI; doubling of baseline creatinine by day 100 after HCT) (HR = 2.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-3.7, P < .0001), TBI in the preparative regimen (HR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.3-3.3, P = .001), donor type (autologous HR = 2.4; 95% CI 1.3-4.4 and unrelated donor HR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.0-3.2, P = .01), obesity (HR = 4.0; 95% CI 2.3-6.8, P < .0001), diabetes (HR = 6.7; 95% CI 3.9-11.0, P < 0.0001), and history of growth hormone therapy (HR = 1.6; 95% CI 1.0-2.5, P = .05). Patients with a positive history of hepatitis C infection were less likely to develop HTN (HR = 0.5; 95% CI 0.3-0.9, P = .009). Prevalence of HTN was 15% overall and among survivors 11-17 years and 18-39 years old, the prevalence was 10% and 14% or triple and double that of the general U.S. population, respectively. Pediatric HCT survivors are more likely to develop HTN than the general population and should be monitored for HTN throughout adulthood.

Pulmonary, gonadal, and central nervous system status after bone marrow transplantation for sickle cell disease.

We conducted a prospective, multicenter investigation of human-leukocyte antigen (HLA) identical sibling bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in children with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) between 1991 and 2000. To determine if children were protected from complications of SCD after successful BMT, we extended our initial study of BMT for SCD to conduct assessments of the central nervous system (CNS) and of pulmonary function 2 or more years after transplantation. In addition, the impact on gonadal function was studied. After BMT, patients with stroke who had stable engraftment of donor cells experienced no subsequent stroke events after BMT, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams demonstrated stable or improved appearance. However, 2 patients with graft rejection had a second stroke after BMT. After transplantation, most patients also had unchanged or improved pulmonary function. Among the 11 patients who had restrictive lung changes at baseline, 5 were improved and 6 had persistent restrictive disease after BMT. Of the 2 patients who had obstructive changes at baseline, 1 improved and 1 had worsened obstructive disease after BMT. There was, however, significant gonadal toxicity after BMT, particularly among female recipients. In summary, individuals who had stable donor engraftment did not experience sickle-related complications after BMT, and were protected from progressive CNS and pulmonary disease.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for refractory or recurrent non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents.

We examined the role of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for patients aged< or =18 years with refractory or recurrent Burkitt (n=41), lymphoblastic (n=53), diffuse large B cell (DLBCL; n=52), and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (n=36), receiving autologous (n=90) or allogeneic (n=92; 43 matched sibling and 49 unrelated donor) HSCT in 1990-2005. Risk factors affecting event-free survival (EFS) were evaluated using stratified Cox regression. Characteristics of allogeneic and autologous HSCT recipients were similar. Allogeneic donor HSCT was more likely to use irradiation-containing conditioning regimens, bone marrow (BM) stem cells, be performed in more recent years, and for lymphoblastic lymphoma. EFS rates were lower for patients not in complete remission at HSCT, regardless of donor type. After adjusting for disease status, 5-year EFS were similar after allogeneic and autologous HSCT for DLBCL (50% vs 52%), Burkitt (31% vs 27%), and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (46% vs 35%). However, EFS was higher for lymphoblastic lymphoma, after allogeneic HSCT (40% vs 4%; P < .01). Predictors of EFS for progressive or recurrent disease after HSCT included disease status at HSCT and use of allogeneic donor for lymphoblastic lymphoma. These data were unable to demonstrate a difference in outcome by donor type for the other histological subtypes.

Thyroid function following hematopoietic cell transplantation in children: 30 years' experience.

Thyroid dysfunction is a known complication after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in children with reports involving relatively short follow-up and small patient numbers. This study involves 791 patients less than 18 years of age at HCT at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center with follow-up from 1969 through 2007. Thyroid dysfunction continued for 28 years after transplantation. Hypothyroidism was the most common abnormality with other abnormalities of hyperthyroidism and thyroiditis. Multivariate analysis showed that thyroid dysfunction was more likely if patients were less than 10 years of age (P < .001), but there was no difference between receiving a total body irradiation or busulfan based regimens (P = .48) compared with cyclophosphamide conditioning alone (P = .008). Thyroid tumors occurred at a median of 9.9 (4.5-22.3) years after HCT and included 13 with papillary carcinoma and 5 with benign adenomas. Children who receive a HCT should be monitored for thyroid abnormalities throughout life.

BK nephropathy in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients.

BK nephropathy is a known cause of renal insufficiency in kidney transplant recipients. Activation of the polyoma virus may also occur in the native kidneys of non-renal allograft recipients. BK nephropathy has only been reported in a few patients after HCT, most being adult patients, and the single reported pediatric case had evidence of hemorrhagic cystitis. The response to antiviral therapy also seems to differ widely. Here, we describe two cases of BK nephropathy in the native kidneys of HCT recipients exposed to high levels of immunosuppression because of GVHD. Neither of our patients had any evidence of hemorrhagic cystitis. We present definitive renal pathology and detailed chronological evidence of the rising serum creatinine with simultaneous serum and urine BK PCR titers. In one of our cases, antiviral therapy did not seem beneficial as documented by continued renal dysfunction and elevated serum/urine BK PCR titers. Based on our report, intense immunosuppression in pediatric HCT recipients seems to be involved in the activation of BK virus and BK nephropathy should be suspected even in the absence of hematuria in HCT recipients with unexplained renal dysfunction.