Risk factors and timing of autologous stem cell transplantation for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC-ASCT) is an option for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL); however, neither prospective nor retrospective studies support proceeding with ASCT upfront, and the timing of HDC-ASCT remains controversial. We retrospectively analyzed the risk factors for outcomes of 570 patients with PTCL, including PTCL not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), who received ASCT for frontline consolidation (n = 98 and 75, respectively) or alternative therapies after either relapse (n = 112 and 75) or primary induction failure (PIF; n = 127 and 83) between 2000 and 2015. Significant risk factors for overall survival (OS) after upfront ASCT were a ≥ 2 prognostic index for T-cell lymphoma (P < 0.001) and partial response (PR) at ASCT (P = 0.041) in PTCL-NOS patients, and > 60 years of age (P = 0.0028) and PR at ASCT (P = 0.0013) in AITL patients. Performance status of ≥ 2 at ASCT (P < 0.001), receiving ≥ 3 regimens before ASCT (P = 0.018), and PR at ASCT (P = 0.018) in PTCL-NOS patients and > 60 years of age at ASCT (P = 0.0077) in AITL patients were risk factors for OS after ASCT with a chemosensitive PIF status. Strategies that carefully select PTCL patients may allow identification of individuals suitable for ASCT.

Comparison of Autologous and Unrelated Transplants for Cytogenetically Normal Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) from an HLA-matched sibling donor (MSD) is a postremission treatment that offers a potential cure for adults with cytogenetically normal (CN) acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1). The best alternative in the absence of an MSD remains unclear, however. The aim of this study was to retrospectively compare the outcomes of autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (auto-PBSCT; n = 177) and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from an HLA-matched unrelated donor (MUD; n = 173) in adult patients with CN-AML/CR1. Both the multivariate analysis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71 to 1.97; P = .53) and propensity score models (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 0.80 to 2.43; P = .24) indicated that the leukemia-free survival (LFS) rate of auto-PBSCT was not significantly different from that of MUD-BMT. These results suggest that in the absence of an available MSD, auto-PBSCT remains a viable alternative as postremission therapy in patients with CN-AML/CR1.

Antibiotic rotation for febrile neutropenic patients with hematological malignancies: clinical significance of antibiotic heterogeneity.

BACKGROUND: Our unit adopted the single administration of cefepime as the initial treatment for febrile episodes in neutropenic patients with hematological malignancies. However, recently, cefepime-resistant gram-negative bacteremia, including those with extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producers, was frequently observed in these patients. Therefore, we instituted a rotation of primary antibiotics for febrile neutropenic patients in an attempt to control antibiotic resistance. METHODS: This prospective trial was performed from August 2008 through March 2011 at our unit. After a pre-intervention period, in which cefepime was used as the initial agent for febrile neutropenia, 4 primary antibiotics, namely, piperacillin-tazobactam, ciprofloxacin, meropenem, and cefepime, were rotated at 1-month intervals over 20 months. Blood and surveillance cultures were conducted for febrile episodes, in order to assess the etiology, the resistance pattern (particularly to cefepime), and the prognosis. RESULTS: In this trial, 219 patients were registered. A 65.9% reduction in the use of cefepime occurred after the antibiotic rotation. In the surveillance stool cultures, the detection rate of cefepime-resistant gram-negative isolates, of which ESBL-producers were predominant, declined significantly after the intervention (8.5 vs 0.9 episodes per 1000 patient days before and after intervention respectively, P<0.01). Interestingly, ESBL-related bacteremia was not detected after the initiation of the trial (1.7 vs 0.0 episodes per 1000 patient days before and after intervention respectively, P<0.01). Infection-related mortality was comparable between the 2 periods. CONCLUSIONS: We implemented a monthly rotation of primary antibiotics for febrile neutropenic patients. An antibiotic heterogeneity strategy, mainly performed as a cycling regimen, would be useful for controlling antimicrobial resistance among patients treated for febrile neutropenia.