Long-term outcome in patients with mantle cell lymphoma following high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Long-term clinical and molecular remissions in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) have been evaluated in only a few studies. DESIGN AND METHODS: Sixty-five patients with MCL received ASCT (54 first-line ASCT, 10 second-line ASCT, and 1 third-line ASCT). In the case of long-term remission (≥5 years; n = 27), peripheral blood was tested for minimal residual disease (MRD) by t(11;14)- and IGH-PCR at the last follow-up. RESULTS: Ten-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and freedom from progression (FFP) after first-line ASCT were 64%, 52%, and 59% versus after second-line ASCT 50%, 20%, and 20%, respectively. Five-year OS, PFS, and FFP for the first-line cohort were 79%, 63%, and 69%, respectively. Five-year OS, PFS, and FFP after second-line ASCT were 60%, 30%, and 30%, respectively. Treatment-related mortality (3 months after ASCT) was 1.5%. So far 26 patients developed sustained long-term clinical and molecular complete remissions of up to 19 years following ASCT in first treatment line. CONCLUSION: Sustained long-term clinical and molecular remissions are achievable following ASCT.

Long-term remissions in patients with early relapse of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma following high-dose chemotherapy, autologous stem cell transplantation, and radiotherapy of residual disease.

PURPOSE: The prognosis of an early relapse of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) appears to be poor following autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The aim of this study is to contribute data to the open question on whether additional radiotherapy can improve the outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-eight patients with an early relapse (median 4 months after the end of initial immunochemotherapy, range 1-11) of DLBCL have been treated in our institution with high-dose therapy (usually the BEAM protocol) and ASCT since 2008 (median age 61 years, range 28-73). Twenty-three patients received ASCT in a second treatment line, 25 in a third line (19 refractory to second-line salvage therapy, 5 after second relapse). Fifteen of these 48 patients received radiotherapy (36-50 Gy, median 40) of residual masses after ASCT. RESULTS: Three-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) after second-line ASCT were 61 and 57%, after third-line ASCT 47 and 44%, respectively, without significant differences. A prognostic factor was the International Prognostic Index (IPI) at the start of salvage therapy. Three-year OS and PFS in low-risk patients were 69 and 69%, in low-intermediate-risk 63 and 53%, and in high-intermediate-risk 23 and 23%, respectively (p = 0.033). Twenty-three patients achieved a sustained complete remission (13-146 months, median 62). CONCLUSION: Sustained long-term remissions can be achieved in patients with early relapse of DLBCL following ASCT in a second or third treatment line, particularly in patients with low- and low-intermediate-risk IPI, following radiotherapy of residual disease after ASCT. Further investigations are required to clarify which patients need an alternative therapy (potentially CAR T­cells or allogeneic transplantation).

Herpes zoster prophylaxis with low-dose acyclovir in patients with malignant lymphoma and multiple myeloma treated with autologous stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Herpes zoster (HZ) is a frequent complication after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The option of zoster prophylaxis with an antiviral drug is described in the literature, but there is no consensus on the drug and the dosage. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analyzed the records of 310 patients treated with ASCT who were controlled regularly regarding HZ inter alia for at least 24 months following ASCT. Since 01/2015 patients received prophylactic low-dose acyclovir (400 mg per day) during the first 12 months following discharge after ASCT (n = 107). RESULTS: Twenty percent of patients without this kind of prophylaxis and 2.8% of patients with prophylaxis developed HZ (p < .001). No patient with this prophylaxis developed HZ in the first year after ASCT, 2.8% of patients in the second year after ASCT. A prognostic factor was the kind of diagnosis: 30% of lymphoma patients and 14% of myeloma patients developed HZ in the first 24 months after ASCT without prophylaxis, but only 6.3% and 0% of patients with prophylaxis, respectively. Neither an increase of HZ cases following prophylaxis nor acyclovir refractory HZ cases were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Zoster prophylaxis with low-dose acyclovir over 12 months after ASCT is effective and well tolerated.

Treosulfan compared with reduced-intensity busulfan improves allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation outcomes of older acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome patients: Final analysis of a prospective randomized trial.

The phase III study was designed to compare event-free survival (EFS) after treosulfan-based conditioning with a widely applied reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) busulfan regimen in older or comorbid patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). A previously reported confirmatory interim analysis of the randomized clinical study including 476 patients demonstrated statistically significant noninferiority for treosulfan with clinically meaningful improvement in EFS. Here, the final study results and pre-specified subgroup analyses of all 570 randomized patients with completed longer-term follow-up are presented. Patients presenting HCT-specific comorbidity index >2 or aged ≥50 years were randomly assigned (1:1) to intravenous (IV) fludarabine with either treosulfan (30 g/m2 IV) or busulfan (6.4 mg/kg IV) after stratification by disease risk group, donor type, and participating institution. The primary endpoint was EFS with disease recurrence, graft failure, or death from any cause as events. EFS of patients (median age 60 years) was superior after treosulfan compared to RIC busulfan: 36-months-EFS rate 59.5% (95% CI, 52.2-66.1) vs. 49.7% (95% CI, 43.3-55.7) with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.64 (95% CI, 0.49-0.84), p = 0.0006. Likewise, overall survival (OS) with treosulfan was superior compared to busulfan: 36-month-OS rate 66.8% vs. 56.3%; HR 0.64 (95% CI, 0.48-0.87), p = 0.0037. Post hoc analyses revealed that these differences were consistent with the confirmatory interim analysis, and thereby the treosulfan regimen appears particularly suitable for older AML and MDS patients.

Efficacy of UVC-treated, pathogen-reduced platelets versus untreated platelets: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.

Pathogen reduction (PR) technologies for blood components have been established to reduce the residual risk of known and emerging infectious agents. THERAFLEX UVPlatelets, a novel UVC light-based PR technology for platelet concentrates, works without photoactive substances. This randomized, controlled, double-blind, multicenter, noninferiority trial was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of UVC-treated platelets to that of untreated platelets in thrombocytopenic patients with hematologic-oncologic diseases. Primary objective was to determine non-inferiority of UVC-treated platelets, assessed by the 1-hour corrected count increment (CCI) in up to eight per-protocol platelet transfusion episodes. Analysis of the 171 eligible patients showed that the defined non-inferiority margin of 30% of UVC-treated platelets was narrowly missed as the mean differences in 1-hour CCI between standard platelets versus UVC-treated platelets for intention-to-treat and perprotocol analyses were 18.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.4%; 30.1) and 18.7% (95% CI: 6.3%; 31.1%), respectively. In comparison to the control, the UVC group had a 19.2% lower mean 24-hour CCI and was treated with an about 25% higher number of platelet units, but the average number of days to next platelet transfusion did not differ significantly between both treatment groups. The frequency of low-grade adverse events was slightly higher in the UVC group and the frequencies of refractoriness to platelet transfusion, platelet alloimmunization, severe bleeding events, and red blood cell transfusions were comparable between groups. Our study suggests that transfusion of pathogen-reduced platelets produced with the UVC technology is safe but non-inferiority was not demonstrated. (The German Clinical Trials Register number: DRKS00011156).

Long-term outcome in patients with follicular lymphoma following high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.

OBJECTIVE: To contribute data on long-term outcome and potential curative impact of ASCT in FL, especially following HDT with the BEAM protocol (BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine and melphalan), given very limited data on this topic in the literature. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with FL (n = 76) were treated in our institution with HDT and ASCT. In the case of long-term remission (≥8 years), peripheral blood was tested for minimal residual disease by t(14;18)- and IGH-PCR, including the last follow-up. RESULTS: 10-year overall survival, progression-free survival, and freedom from progression (FFP) after first-line ASCT (n = 20) were 80%, 60%, and 69%, after second-line ASCT (n = 48, following BEAM) 66%, 38%, and 41%, after third/fourth-line ASCT (n = 8) 33%, 25%, and 25%, respectively. Prognostic factors for FFP were treatment line and FLIPI (Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index). 10-year FFP for second-line ASCT and low-risk FLIPI at relapse was 69%, intermediate-risk 28%, and high-risk 25% (P < .05). 26 patients developed sustained long-term clinical and molecular remissions of up to 27 years. CONCLUSIONS: Sustained long-term clinical and molecular complete remissions up to 27 years can be achieved following ASCT (including HDT with BEAM in second treatment line), indicating a potential curative impact of ASCT in FL.

Matching for the MICA-129 polymorphism is beneficial in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Major histocompatibility complex class I polypeptide-related sequence A (MICA) is a highly polymorphic ligand of the activating NKG2D receptor on natural killer (NK) cells, γδ-T cells, and NKT cells. MICA incompatibilities have been associated with an increased graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) incidence, and the MICA-129 (met/val) dimorphism has been shown to influence NKG2D signaling in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (uHSCT). We investigated the effect of MICA matching on survival after uHSCT. We sequenced 2172 patients and their respective donors for MICA. All patients and donors were high-resolution HLA-typed and matched for 10/10 (n = 1379), 9/10 (n = 636), or 8/10 (n = 157) HLA alleles. Within each HLA match group, cases matched and mismatched for MICA and MICA-129 were analyzed for the end points overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), nonrelapse mortality (NRM), relapse-incidence (RI), and GVHD. Mismatches at the MICA locus as well as MICA-129 increased with the number of HLA mismatches (MICA mismatched 10/10, 9.2% [n = 127]; 9/10, 22.3% [n = 142]; 8/10, 38.2% [n = 60]; MICA-129 mismatched 10/10, 3.9% [n = 54]; 9/10, 10.2% [n = 65]; 8/10, 17.2% [n = 27]). Adverse OS was observed in the 10/10 match group if MICA-129 was mismatched (10/10, hazard ratio [HR], 1.77; confidence interval [CI], 1.22-2.57; P = .003). MICA-129 mismatches correlated with a significantly worse outcome for DFS in the 10/10 HLA match group (HR, 1.77; CI, 1.26-2.50; P = .001). Higher rates of aGVHD were seen in MICA-129 mismatched cases. Our results indicate that MICA-129 matching is relevant in uHSCT. Prospective typing of patients and donors in unrelated donor search may identify mismatches for MICA-129, and compatible donor selection may improve outcome for this small but high-risk subgroup.

Imatinib in myeloid/lymphoid neoplasms with eosinophilia and rearrangement of PDGFRB in chronic or blast phase.

We evaluated clinical characteristics and outcome on imatinib of 22 patients with myeloid/lymphoid neoplasms with eosinophilia and rearrangement of PDGFRB. Median age was 49 years (range 20-80), 91% were male. Fifteen different PDGFRB fusion genes were identified. Eosinophilia was absent in 4/19 (21%) cases and only 11/19 (58%) cases had eosinophils ≥1.5×109/L. On imatinib, 17/17 (100%) patients in chronic phase achieved complete hematologic remission after median 2 months (range 0-13)​. Complete cytogenetic remission and/or complete molecular remission by RT-PCR were achieved in 12/13 (92%) and 12/14 patients (86%) after median 10 (range 3-34) and 19 months (range 7-110), respectively. In patients with blast phase (myeloid, n = 2; lymphoid, n = 3), treatment included combinations of imatinib (n = 5), intensive chemotherapy (n = 3), and/or allogeneic stem cell transplantation (n = 3). All 3 transplanted patients (complex karyotype, n = 2) experienced early relapse. Initially, patients were treated with imatinib 400 mg/day (n = 15) or 100 mg/day (n = 7), the dose was reduced from 400 mg/day to 100 mg/day during follow-up in 9 patients. After a median treatment of 71 months (range 1-135), the 5-year survival rate was 83%; 4/22 (18%) patients died (chronic phase; n = 2; blast phase, n = 2) due to progression (n = 3) or comorbidity while in remission (n = 1). Of note, 3/4 patients had a complex karyotype. In summary, the most important characteristics of myeloid/lymphoid neoplasms with rearrangement of PDGFRB include (a) male predominance, (b) frequent lack of hypereosinophilia,

Differential impact of allelic ratio and insertion site in FLT3-ITD-positive AML with respect to allogeneic transplantation.

The objective was to evaluate the prognostic and predictive impact of allelic ratio and insertion site (IS) of internal tandem duplications (ITDs), as well as concurrent gene mutations, with regard to postremission therapy in 323 patients with FLT3-ITD-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Increasing FLT3-ITD allelic ratio (P = .004) and IS in the tyrosine kinase domain 1 (TKD1, P = .06) were associated with low complete remission (CR) rates. After postremission therapy including intensive chemotherapy (n = 121) or autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT, n = 17), an allelic ratio ≥ 0.51 was associated with an unfavorable relapse-free (RFS, P = .0008) and overall survival (OS, P = .004); after allogeneic HSCT (n = 93), outcome was significantly improved in patients with a high allelic ratio (RFS, P = .02; OS, P = .03), whereas no benefit was seen in patients with a low allelic ratio (RFS, P = .38; OS, P = .64). Multivariable analyses revealed a high allelic ratio as a predictive factor for the beneficial effect of allogeneic HSCT; ITD IS in TKD1 remained an unfavorable factor, whereas no prognostic impact of concurrent gene mutations was observed. The clinical trials described herein were previously published or are registered as follows: AMLHD93 and AMLHD98A, previously published; AML SG 07-04, ClinicalTrials.gov identifier #NCT00151242.

Platelet recovery and survival measured in patients by quantitative polymerase chain reaction of mitochondrial DNA.

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial (mt) DNA markers have been identified as potential targets for the quantification of endogenous and allogeneic platelets (PLTs) in the blood of individuals who received transfusions. Our goal was to develop a routine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for ex vivo monitoring of PLT survival in patients after transfusion. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Targets were selected for real-time (RT)-PCR of mt DNA based on the frequency distribution of nucleotide polymorphisms and assay sensitivity in vitro. The assays were then evaluated with ex vivo samples to measure PLT survival and recovery of therapeutic doses of apheresis PLTs in hematooncologic patients with thrombocytopenia. RESULTS: Nucleotides in two positions (73/310 hypervariable region [HVR] 2) and three positions (295 HVR 2, 16069/16311 HVR 1) had allele frequencies of approximately 0.5 and 0.85, respectively, in a population of 960 Caucasian PLT donors. They provided targets for sensitive assays detecting at least 1 × 10(3) PLTs per whole blood sample with adequate reproducibility (interassay coefficient of variation <4.0%). Transfusions of single-donor PLT concentrates in patients with thrombocytopenia (n = 30) were monitored with these markers. The mean 24-hour corrected count increment was 8.3 and the mean calculated survival time was 3.3 days. Results for a second marker were available for 13 transfusions. The survival time values derived from both markers for the same transfusion were almost identical (linear regression: r(2) = 0.957, slope = 0.87). CONCLUSION: This RT-PCR method detects mt DNA polymorphisms in Caucasians for a highly sensitive and reproducible quantification of endogenous and allogeneic PLT numbers in blood samples from transfused patients with thrombocytopenia.

Long-term clinical and molecular remissions in patients with mantle cell lymphoma following high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.

Long-term clinical and molecular remissions in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) following high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) have been evaluated in only a few studies. Thirty-six patients with MCL received ASCT in our institution (27 patients undergoing first-line therapy, 8 patients undergoing second-line therapy, and 1 patient undergoing third-line therapy). In the case of long-term remission (≥5 years; n = 8), peripheral blood was tested for minimal residual disease (MRD) by t(11; 14) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IGH) PCR at the last follow-up. Ten-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and freedom from progression (FFP) after first-line ASCT were 42 %, 43 %, and 54 %; after second-line ASCT, these were all 0 %. Four-year OS, PFS, and FFP for the first-line cohort were 75 %, 48 %, and 61 %, respectively. Four-year OS, PFS, and FFP after second-line ASCT were 55 %, 30 %, and 30 %, respectively. Treatment-related mortality (3 months after ASCT) was 0 %. The only prognostic factor for OS, PFS, and FFP was treatment line (p = 0.011, p = 0.046, and p = 0.023, respectively). No relapses occurred after 5 years following ASCT. So far, eight patients developed sustained long-term clinical and molecular complete remissions of up to 14.6 years following ASCT in the first treatment line. Sustained long-term clinical and molecular remissions can be achieved following ASCT in the first treatment line and apparently less frequent in the second treatment line.

The impact of MICB mismatches in unrelated haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

MICA polymorphisms have been associated with increased incidence of acute GvHD and adverse outcome in allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). MICB is another expressed member of MHC class I-related chain genes and its impact on HSCT outcome is yet to be fully defined. We typed a large cohort of patients and donors for MICB polymorphisms and investigated the impact of MICB matching on outcome after unrelated HSCT. 69.2% of the patients were 10/10 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched and 30.8% were 9/10 HLA matched. MICB typing was performed using a short amplicon-based NGS typing assay on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Differences in proteins were considered as mismatches. MICA polymorphisms were identified as possible confounder and were therefore included as parameter in the multivariate analyses. Due to the strong linkage disequilibrium with the classical HLA-genes, sub-stratification for HLA matching status was necessary, and no effect of MICB mismatches was seen in the 10/10 HLA matched group when compared to the MICB matched cases. However, in the 9/10 HLA matched group, MICB mismatched cases showed significantly worse disease free survival (DFS), GvHD and relapse free survival (GRFS) compared to the MICB matched cases (DFS: HR 1.24, p = 0.011; GRFS: HR 1.26, p = 0.002). MICA mismatches had no impact on any outcome parameter. According to our findings, effects previously attributed to MICA differences may have been confounded by MICB polymorphisms. We show that MICB differences contribute a small but relevant effect in 9/10 HLA-matched transplantations, which in turn highlights the possible usefulness of MICB typing in donor selection among similarly suitable 9/10 matched donors, especially when HLA-B mismatches have to be accepted.

CNS involvement and treatment with interferon-α are independent prognostic factors in Erdheim-Chester disease: a multicenter survival analysis of 53 patients.

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare form of non-Langerhans histiocytosis, with noncodified therapeutic management and high mortality. No treatment has yet been shown to improve survival in these patients. We conducted a multicenter prospective observational cohort study to assess whether extraskeletal manifestations and interferon-α treatment would influence survival in a large cohort of ECD patients. To achieve this goal, we thoroughly analyzed the clinical presentation of 53 patients with biopsy-proven ECD, and we performed a survival analysis using Cox proportional hazard model. Fifty-three patients (39 men and 14 women) with biopsy-proven ECD were followed up between November 1981 and November 2010. Forty-six patients (87%) received interferon-α and/or PEGylated interferon-α. Multivariate survival analysis using Cox proportional hazard model revealed that central nervous system involvement was an independent predictor of death (hazard ratio = 2.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.28-5.52; P = .006) in our cohort. Conversely, treatment with interferon-α was identified as an independent predictor of survival (hazard ratio = 0.32; 95% confidence interval, 0.14-0.70; P = .006). Although definitive confirmation would require a randomized controlled trial, these results suggest that interferon-α improves survival in ECD patients. This may be seen as a significant advance, as it is the first time a treatment is shown to improve survival in this multisystemic disease with high mortality.

Survival advantage of treosulfan plus fludarabine (FT14) compared to busulfan plus fludarabine (FB4) in active acute myeloid leukemia post allogeneic transplantation: an analysis from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Acute Leukemia Working Party (ALWP).

We compared FT14 (fludarabine 150-160 mg/m2, treosulfan 42 g/m2) versus FB4 (fludarabine 150-160 mg/m2, busulfan 12.8 mg/kg) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transplanted at primary refractory/relapsed disease. We retrospectively studied: (a) adults diagnosed with AML, (b) recipients of first allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from unrelated/sibling donor (2010-2020), (c) HSCT with primary refractory/relapsed disease, (d) conditioning regimen with FT14 or FB4. We studied 346 patients, 113 transplanted with FT14, and 233 with FΒ4. FT14 patients were significantly older, more frequently had an unrelated donor and had received a lower dose of fludarabine. Cumulative incidence (CI) of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) grade III-IV and extensive chronic GVHD was similar. With a median follow-up of 28.7 months, 2-year CI of relapse was 43.4% in FT14 versus 53.2% in FB4, while non-relapse mortality (NRM) was respectively 20.8% versus 22.6%. This led to 2-year leukemia-free survival (LFS) of 35.8% for FT14 versus 24.2% in FB4, and overall survival (OS) of 44.4% versus 34%. Adverse cytogenetics and conditioning regimen independently predicted CI of relapse. Furthermore, conditioning regimen was the only independent predictor of LFS, OS, and GVHD-free/relapse-free survival. Therefore, our real-world multicenter study suggests that FT14 is associated with better outcomes in primary refractory/relapsed AML.

KIR2DS4 and Its Variant KIR1D in KIR-AA Genotype Donors Showed Differential Survival Impact in Patients with Lymphoid Disease after HLA-Matched Unrelated Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Previous studies have illustrated associations between the presence of activating killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes and lower susceptibility to hematologic malignancies in humans. In addition, favorable hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) outcomes have been reported in patients who received transplants from donors with KIR genotypes dominant for activating KIR receptors. However, the association of activating KIR genes on an allelic level with disease and their impact on HSCT outcome has been little investigated to date. To this end, we genotyped a large transplantation cohort for KIR 2 Ig domains and short cytoplasmic tail 4 (KIR2DS4) polymorphisms and investigated their association with disease. We next investigated the impact of KIR-AA genotype donor KIR2DS4 polymorphisms (AA/KIR2DS4 versus AA/ KIR 1 Ig domain [KIR1D]) on clinical outcomes of HSCT in myeloid versus lymphoid patient subgroups. Among 2810 transplantation donor-recipient pairs, 68.8% (n = 1934) were 10/10 HLA-matched and 31.2% (n = 876) were 9/10 HLA-matched. The distribution of KIR1D was equal in patients and donors (P = .205). Multivariate analysis in 10/10 HLA-matched patients with lymphoid disease showed improved HSCT outcomes when they received grafts from AA/KIR1D donors (overall survival: hazard ratio [HR], .62, P = .002; disease free survival: HR, .70, P = .011; graft-versus-host disease-free and relapse-free survival: HR, .67, P = .002; nonrelapse mortality: HR, .55, P < .001). This effect was not seen in either 9/10 HLA-matched patients with lymphoid disease or patients with myeloid disease. Our study indicates that the presence of KIR1D alleles is not associated with disease in patients, and, interestingly, using grafts from AA/KIR1D donors translated into beneficial survival outcomes in 10/10 HLA-matched patients with lymphoid disease.

Treatment of adult ALL patients with third-generation CD19-directed CAR T cells: results of a pivotal trial.

BACKGROUND: Third-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells (CARTs) might improve clinical outcome of patients with B cell malignancies. This is the first report on a third-generation CART dose-escalating, phase-1/2 investigator-initiated trial treating adult patients with refractory and/or relapsed (r/r) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). METHODS: Thirteen patients were treated with escalating doses of CD19-directed CARTs between 1 × 106 and 50 × 106 CARTs/m2. Leukapheresis, manufacturing and administration of CARTs were performed in-house. RESULTS: For all patients, CART manufacturing was feasible. None of the patients developed any grade of Immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) or a higher-grade (≥ grade III) catokine release syndrome (CRS). CART expansion and long-term CART persistence were evident in the peripheral blood (PB) of evaluable patients. At end of study on day 90 after CARTs, ten patients were evaluable for response: Eight patients (80%) achieved a complete remission (CR), including five patients (50%) with minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative CR. Response and outcome were associated with the administered CART dose. At 1-year follow-up, median overall survival was not reached and progression-free survival (PFS) was 38%. Median PFS was reached on day 120. Lack of CD39-expression on memory-like T cells was more frequent in CART products of responders when compared to CART products of non-responders. After CART administration, higher CD8 + and γδ-T cell frequencies, a physiological pattern of immune cells and lower monocyte counts in the PB were associated with response. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, third-generation CARTs were associated with promising clinical efficacy and remarkably low procedure-specific toxicity, thereby opening new therapeutic perspectives for patients with r/r ALL. Trial registration This trial was registered at www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov as NCT03676504.

Combination of treosulfan, fludarabine and cytarabine as conditioning in patients with acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and myeloproliferative neoplasms.

PURPOSE: Treosulfan and fludarabine (Treo/Flu) were successfully introduced into toxicity-reduced conditioning for SCT. However, the risk of post-SCT relapse remains a matter of concern. We report the results of a novel individual treatment approach with Treo/Flu and cytarabine (Treo/Flu/AraC) conditioning prior to allogeneic SCT in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). METHODS: Seventy-seven patients (median age 54 years) at high risk of disease relapse due to unfavorable cytogenetics or failure to achieve complete remission prior to SCT were included. Median follow-up was 3.2 years. RESULTS: The 1-, 2- and 3-year RFS rates were 49.4%, 41.7%, and 37.6% and OS rates were 59.3%, 49.3%, and 45.4%, respectively. Cumulative incidence of NRM was 10% at 100 days, 18.8% at 1 year and 20.1% at 2 years. The cumulative incidence of relapse increased from 31% at 1 year to 38.5% after 3 years. The cumulative incidences of engraftment, chimerism, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and toxicities were acceptable and comparable with similar patients conditioned with Treo/Flu or FLAMSA-RIC. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, Treo/Flu/AraC provides tolerable, feasible, and effective conditioning for patients with AML, MDS or MPN, even in advanced disease states. The incidence of NRM and relapse is acceptable in this heavily pre-treated population with high-risk disease. Future research will aim to confirm these initial findings and include a larger number of participants in a prospective trial.

Higher risk for chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in HLA-G mismatched transplants following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a major complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and is highly influenced by the degree of HLA matching between recipient and donor. The HLA-class Ib molecule HLA-G has been shown to promote tolerogenicity through its interaction with inhibitory receptors found on several immunocompetent cells. We hypothesized that in an allo-HSCT setting, HLA-G mismatches may negatively impact the HLA-G-mediated tolerogenicity either due to inefficient interaction with the inhibitory receptors of the transplanted immune cells or due to direct allorecognition of mismatched HLA-G on host cells by the immune cells of the donor. METHODS: In order to explore this hypothesis, we investigated the impact of HLA-G mismatching in 2.083 10/10 matched high resolution HLA-typed allo-HSCT transplants. RESULTS: We found that the risk of chronic GvHD was significantly higher in HLA-G-mismatched transplant cases as compared with the HLA-G-matched control group (HR: 1.46, 95%CI = 1.11-1.91, p = 0.006). Sub-analysis of the mismatch vector revealed that this effect was only detectable in the GvH (HR: 1.89, 95%CI 1.39-2.57, p < 0.001) but not the HvG direction (HR: 1.01, 95%CI = 0.63-1.63, p = 0.967). In addition, the negative impact of HLA-G mismatching on chronic GvHD was only significant in younger patients (<30y HR: 3.02, 95%CI = 1.25-7.28, p = 0.014; >29y HR: 1.28, 95%CI = 0.94-1.72, p = 0.113). DISCUSSION: Our results indicate that HLA-G mismatches may contribute to the onset of chronic GvHD, especially in younger patients and should therefore be avoided when possible.

Donor genetic determinant of thymopoiesis rs2204985 impacts clinical outcome after single HLA mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

A common genetic variant within the T cell receptor alpha (TCRA)-T cell receptor delta (TCRD) locus (rs2204985) has been recently found to associate with thymic function. Aim of this study was to investigate the potential impact of donor rs2204985 genotype on patient's outcome after unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (uHSCT). 2016 adult patients were retrospectively analyzed. rs2204985 genotyping was performed by next generation sequencing, p < 0.05 was considered significant and donor rs2204985 GG/AG genotypes were set as reference vs. the AA genotype. Multivariate analysis of the combined cohort regarding the impact of donor's rs2204985 genotype indicated different risk estimates in 10/10 and 9/10 HLA matched transplantations. A subanalysis on account of HLA incompatibility revealed that donor AA genotype in single HLA mismatched cases (n = 624) associated with significantly inferior overall- (HR: 1.48, p = 0.003) and disease-free survival (HR: 1.50, p = 0.001). This effect was driven by a combined higher risk of relapse incidence (HR: 1.40, p = 0.026) and non-relapse mortality (HR: 1.38, p = 0.042). This is the first study to explore the role of rs2204985 in a clinical uHSCT setting. Our data suggest that donor rs2204985 AA genotype in combination with single HLA mismatches may adversely impact post-HSCT outcome and should thus be avoided.