Total body irradiation dose escalation decreases risk of progression and graft rejection after hematopoietic cell transplantation for myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative neoplasms.

A non-myeloablative regimen of fludarabine and 200 cGy total body irradiation combined with post-grafting immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil and a calcineurin inhibitor facilitates allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation from HLA-matched related or unrelated donors in older patients and/or those with comorbidities. However, outcomes of prior studies have been disappointing in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative neoplasms due to high incidences of progression or graft failure (together termed hematopoietic cell transplantation-failure). We hypothesized that escalating the total body irradiation dose may improve the outcomes and subsequently performed a phase II total body irradiation dose-escalation trial. Patients with median age 66 years were enrolled in two arms to receive non-myeloablative conditioning followed by hematopoietic cell transplantation with total body irradiation dose escalation for excessive hematopoietic cell transplantation-failure: Arm A: myeloproliferative neoplasm/myelodysplastic syndrome low risk (n=36); and Arm B: myelodysplastic syndrome high-risk/chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (n=41). Total body irradiation dose levels were: Level-1 (300 cGy), Level-2 (400 cGy), or Level-3 (450 cGy). Patients received intravenous fludarabine 30 mg/m2 for three days. Total body irradiation was administered on day 0 followed by infusion of peripheral blood stem cells from HLA-matched related (n=30) or unrelated (n=47) donors. Post-grafting immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporine was administered. The primary end point was day 200 hematopoietic cell transplant failure, with the objective of reducing the incidence to <20%. The primary end point was reached on Arm A at dose Level-1 (300 cGy total body irradiation) with a cumulative incidence of day 200 hematopoietic cell transplant failure of 11%, and on Arm B at dose Level-3 (450 cGy) with a cumulative incidence of day 200 hematopoietic cell transplant failure of 9%. Increasing the total body irradiation dose leads to a higher success rate with non-myeloablative conditioning by reducing relapse and rejection. Further studies are necessary to decrease non-relapse mortality, especially among patients with high-risk disease. Trial registered under clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00397813.

A randomized phase II trial of tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and sirolimus after non-myeloablative unrelated donor transplantation.

The study is a randomized phase II trial investigating graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis after non-myeloablative (90 mg/m(2) fludarabine and 2 Gy total body irradiation) human leukocyte antigen matched unrelated donor transplantation. Patients were randomized as follows: arm 1 - tacrolimus 180 days and mycophenolate mofetil 95 days (n=69); arm 2 - tacrolimus 150 days and mycophenolate mofetil 180 days (n=71); arm 3 - tacrolimus 150 days, mycophenolate mofetil 180 days and sirolimus 80 days (n=68). All patients had sustained engraftment. Grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease rates in the 3 arms were 64%, 48% and 47% at Day 150, respectively (arm 3 vs. arm 1 (hazard ratio 0.62; P=0.04). Owing to the decreased incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease, systemic steroid use was lower at Day 150 in arm 3 (32% vs. 55% in arm 1 and 49% in arm 2; overall P=0.009 by hazard ratio analysis). The Day 150 incidence of cytomegalovirus reactivation was lower in arm 3 (arm 1, 54%; arm 2, 47%; arm 3, 22%; overall P=0.002 by hazard ratio analysis). Non-relapse mortality was comparable in the three arms at two years (arm 1, 26%; arm 2, 23%; arm 3, 18%). Toxicity rates and other outcome measures were similar between the three arms. The addition of sirolimus to tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil is safe and associated with lower incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease and cytomegalovirus reactivation. (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: 00105001).

Fludarabine and 2-Gy TBI is superior to 2 Gy TBI as conditioning for HLA-matched related hematopoietic cell transplantation: a phase III randomized trial.

The risks and benefits of adding fludarabine to a 2-Gy total body irradiation (TBI) nonmyeloablative regimen are unknown. For this reason, we conducted a prospective randomized trial comparing 2-Gy TBI alone, or in combination with 90 mg/m(2) fludarabine (FLU/TBI), before transplantation of peripheral blood stem cells from HLA-matched related donors. Eighty-five patients with hematological malignancies were randomized to be conditioned with TBI alone (n = 44) or FLU/TBI (n = 41). All patients had initial engraftment. Two graft rejections were observed, both in the TBI group. Infection rates, nonrelapse mortality, and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were similar between groups. Three-year overall survival was lower in the TBI group (54% versus 65%; hazard ratio [HR], .57; P = .09), with higher incidences of relapse/progression (55% versus 40%; HR, .55; P = .06), relapse-related mortality (37% versus 28%; HR, .53; P = .09), and a lower progression-free survival (36% versus 53%; HR, .56; P = .05). Median donor T cell chimerism levels were significantly lower in the TBI group at days 28 (61% versus 90%; P < .0001) and 84 (68% versus 92%; P < .0001), as was NK cell chimerism on day 28 (75% versus 96%; P = .0005). In conclusion, this randomized trial demonstrates the importance of fludarabine in augmenting the graft-versus-tumor effect by ensuring prompt and durable high-level donor engraftment early after transplantation.

Low-dose total body irradiation and fludarabine conditioning for HLA class I-mismatched donor stem cell transplantation and immunologic recovery in patients with hematologic malignancies: a multicenter trial.

HLA-mismatched grafts are a viable alternative source for patients without HLA-matched donors receiving ablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), although their use in reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) or nonmyeloablative (NMA) conditioning HCT has been not well established. Here, we extended HCT to recipients of HLA class I-mismatched grafts to investigate whether NMA conditioning can establish stable donor engraftment. Fifty-nine patients were conditioned with fludarabine (Flu) 90 mg/m(2) and 2 Gy total body irradiation (TBI), followed by immunosuppression with cyclosporine (CsA) 5.0 mg/kg twice a day and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) 15 mg/kg 3 times a day for transplantation of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) from related (n = 5) or unrelated donors (n = 54) with 1 antigen +/- 1 allele HLA class I mismatch or 2 HLA class I allele mismatches. Sustained donor engraftment was observed in 95% of the evaluable patients. The incidence of grade II-IV acute and extensive chronic graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD, cGVHD) was 69% and 41%, respectively. The cumulative probability of nonrelapse mortality (NRM) was 47% at 2 years. Two-year overall and progression-free survival (OS, PFS) was 29% and 28%, respectively. NMA conditioning with Flu and low-dose TBI, followed by HCT using HLA class I-mismatched donors leads to successful engraftment and long-term survival; however, the high incidence of aGVHD and NRM needs to be addressed by alternate GVHD prophylaxis regimens.

Maximum supportive care, standard conditioning and allogeneic stem cell transplantation for elderly patients with acute myelogenous leukemia.

Dose-intense conditioning (DIC) (myeloablative) regimens for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) were previously avoided in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia aged more than 55 years because of the fear of excessive morbidity and mortality. The introduction of reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) alloSCT led to their increasing use in these patients because of their reduced toxicity. Significant disadvantages remain, however, including the late establishment of a posttransplant graft-versus-leukemia effect and an overrepresentation of poor prognostic factors in elderly patients, resulting in the risk of early relapse/progression before the graft-versus-leukemia effect being disproportionally large. Preliminary results suggest that DIC with maximum prophylaxis and support is safe for elderly patients up to age 70 years. We hypothesize that DIC may be important for the early control of leukemia in elderly patients, and that prospective, randomized trials comparing DIC and RIC-based transplants should be carried out, with the expectation that early transplant-related mortality will be no different.

Comparison of outcomes of HLA-matched related, unrelated, or HLA-haploidentical related hematopoietic cell transplantation following nonmyeloablative conditioning for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.

We compared the outcome of nonmyeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) based on donor cell source. Ninety patients with HL were treated with nonmyeloablative conditioning followed by HCT from HLA-matched related, n=38, unrelated, n=24, or HLA-haploidentical related, n=28 donors. Patients were heavily pretreated with a median of 5 regimens and most patients had failed autologous HCT (92%) and local radiation therapy (83%). With a median follow-up of 25 months, 2-year overall survivals, progression-free survivals (OS)/(PFS), and incidences of relapsed/progressive disease were 53%, 23%, and 56% (HLA-matched related), 58%, 29%, and 63% (unrelated), and 58%, 51%, and 40% (HLA-haploidentical related), respectively. Nonrelapse mortality (NRM) was significantly lower for HLA-haploidentical related (P=.02) recipients compared to HLA-matched related recipients. There were also significantly decreased risks of relapse for HLA-haploidentical related recipients compared to HLA-matched related (P=.01) and unrelated (P=.03) recipients. The incidences of acute grades III-IV and extensive chronic graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD, cGVHD) were 16%/50% (HLA-matched related), 8%/63% (unrelated), and 11%/35% (HLA-haploidentical related). These data suggested that salvage allogeneic HCT using nonmyeloablative conditioning provided antitumor activity in patients with advanced HL; however, disease relapse/progression continued to be major problems. Importantly, alternative donor stem cell sources are a viable option.

Reduced-intensity conditioning followed by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for adult patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and myeloproliferative disorders.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only curative strategy for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and myeloproliferative disorders (MPD). We report the results of 148 patients (median age = 59 years old) with de novo MDS (n = 40), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) after antecedent MDS/MPD (n = 49), treatment-related MDS (t-MDS) (n = 25), MPD (n = 27), and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) (n = 7) who underwent allogeneic HCT using a conditioning regimen of low-dose total body irradiation (TBI) alone (200 cGy) on day 0 (n = 5) or with the addition of fludarabine (Flu) 30 mg/m(2)/day on days -4 to -2 (n = 143). Postgrafting immunosuppression consisted of cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). Seventy-five patients (51%) received an allograft from a matched related donor (MRD), and 73 patients (49%) were recipients of unrelated donor (URD) grafts. There was no significant difference in the incidence of acute (gr II-IV) and chronic extensive graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD, cGVHD) between the recipients of related and unrelated donor grafts. By day +28, 75% of patients demonstrated mixed T cell chimerism. Graft rejection was seen in 15% of patients. With a median follow-up of 47 (range: 6-89) months, the 3-year relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) are both 27% for all patients, with a relapse incidence of 41%. The 3-year RFS for the patients with de novo MDS, AML after antecedent MDS/MPD, t-MDS, MPD, and CMML were 22%, 20%, 29%, 37%, and 43%, respectively, and the 3-year OS was 20%, 23%, 27%, 43%, and 43%, respectively. The 3-year nonrelapse mortality (NRM) was 32%. Factors associated with a lower risk of relapse were the development of extensive cGVHD and having a low risk or intermediate-1 risk International Prognostic Score for the de novo MDS patients. Nonmyeloablative HCT confers remissions in patients who otherwise were not eligible for conventional HCT but for whom relapse is the leading cause of treatment failure.

Efficacy and safety of caspofungin for treatment of invasive aspergillosis in patients refractory to or intolerant of conventional antifungal therapy.

BACKGROUND: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among immunocompromised patients. Echinocandins are novel antifungal molecules with in vitro and in vivo activity against Aspergillus species. METHODS: We investigated the efficacy and safety of caspofungin in the treatment of IA. Ninety patients with IA who were refractory to or intolerant of amphotericin B, lipid formulations of amphotericin B, or triazoles were enrolled to receive caspofungin. RESULTS: Efficacy was assessed for 83 patients who had infection consistent with definitions of IA and who received >or=1 dose of study drug. Common underlying conditions included hematologic malignancy (48% of patients), allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation (25% of patients), and solid-organ transplantation (11% of patients). Seventy-one patients (86%) were refractory to and 12 patients (14%) were intolerant of previous therapy. A favorable response to caspofungin therapy was observed in 37 (45%) of 83 patients, including 32 (50%) of 64 with pulmonary aspergillosis and 3 (23%) of 13 with disseminated aspergillosis. Two patients discontinued caspofungin therapy because of drug-related adverse events. Drug-related nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity occurred infrequently. CONCLUSION: Caspofungin demonstrated usefulness in the salvage treatment of IA.

Graft-versus-host disease and graft-versus-tumor effects after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

PURPOSE: We designed a minimal-intensity conditioning regimen for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies unable to tolerate high-intensity regimens because of age, serious comorbidities, or previous high-dose HCT. The regimen allows the purest assessment of graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effects apart from conditioning and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) not augmented by regimen-related toxicities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients received low-dose total-body irradiation ± fludarabine before HCT from HLA-matched related (n = 611) or unrelated (n = 481) donors, followed by mycophenolate mofetil and a calcineurin inhibitor to aid engraftment and control GVHD. Median patient age was 56 years (range, 7 to 75 years). Forty-five percent of patients had comorbidity scores of ≥ 3. Median follow-up time was 5 years (range, 0.6 to 12.7 years). RESULTS: Depending on disease risk, comorbidities, and GVHD, lasting remissions were seen in 45% to 75% of patients, and 5-year survival ranged from 25% to 60%. At 5 years, the nonrelapse mortality (NRM) rate was 24%, and the relapse mortality rate was 34.5%. Most NRM was a result of GVHD. The most significant factors associated with GVHD-associated NRM were serious comorbidities and grafts from unrelated donors. Most relapses occurred early while the immune system was compromised. GVT effects were comparable after unrelated and related grafts. Chronic GVHD, but not acute GVHD, further increased GVT effects. The potential benefit associated with chronic GVHD was outweighed by increased NRM. CONCLUSION: Allogeneic HCT relying on GVT effects is feasible and results in cures of an appreciable number of malignancies. Improved results could come from methods that control progression of malignancy early after HCT and effectively prevent GVHD.

Nonmyeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

PURPOSE: Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) after high-dose conditioning regimens imposes prohibitively high risks of morbidity and mortality for patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are older or have comorbid conditions. Here, we examined outcomes after nonmyeloablative allogeneic HCT in such patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred seventy-four patients (median age, 60 years) with de novo or secondary AML underwent allogeneic HCT from related (n = 118) or unrelated donors (n = 156) after conditioning with 2 Gy of total-body irradiation (TBI) with or without fludarabine. A calcineurin inhibitor and mycophenolate mofetil were used for postgrafting immunosuppression. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 38 months in surviving patients, the estimated overall survival at 5 years was 33%. The estimated 5-year relapse/progression and nonrelapse mortality rates were 42% and 26%, respectively. The cumulative incidences of grades 2, 3, and 4 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were 38%, 9%, and 5%, respectively. The cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD at 5 years was 44%. Patients in first and second complete remission had better survival rates than patients with more advanced disease (37% and 34% v 18%, respectively). Patients with HLA-matched related or unrelated donors had similar survivals. Unfavorable cytogenetic risk status was associated with increased relapse and subsequent mortality. Chronic GVHD was associated with lower relapse risk. CONCLUSION: Allogeneic HCT from related or unrelated donors after conditioning with low-dose TBI and fludarabine, relying almost exclusively on graft-versus-leukemia effects, can result in long-term remissions in older or medically infirm patients with AML.

Autologous transplantation for diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma in first relapse or second remission.

We evaluated the results of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in first relapse (Rel 1) or second complete remission (CR 2). Data were evaluated from the Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry on 429 patients with diffuse aggressive NHL who underwent transplantation in Rel 1 or CR 2. Transplantations were performed between 1989 and 1996 and were reported to the Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry by 93 centers in North and South America. The probability of 3-year survival was 44% (95% confidence interval [CI], 33%-55%). The probability at 3 years of progression-free survival was 31% (95% CI, 27%-36%). Patients who underwent transplantation in CR 2 had a 3-year probability of progression-free survival of 38% (95% CI, 30%-46%) compared with 28% (95% CI, 22%-33%) for those who were not in remission at the time of transplantation (P <.001). In multivariate analysis, chemotherapy resistance, increased lactic dehydrogenase at diagnosis, an interval of <12 months from diagnosis to relapse, age >or=40 years, and use of myeloid growth factors to accelerate posttransplantation bone marrow recovery were adverse predictors of survival. High-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for patients with diffuse aggressive NHL in CR 2 or Rel 1 resulted in better outcome for patients with chemotherapy-sensitive disease, longer relapse-free intervals, and age <40 years. Exposure to myeloid growth factors to accelerate recovery for recipients of bone marrow grafts may increase the risk of disease progression or death.