Hepatobiliary disease after bone marrow transplant: A cross-sectional study of 377 patients.

BACKGROUND: Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a standard treatment for several haematologic conditions. Following BMT, patients may develop hepatobiliary complications that impact morbidity and mortality. The differential diagnosis may include drug-induced liver injury (DILI), sepsis-associated liver injury (SALI), sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), viral hepatitis, ischaemic hepatitis, and fulminant hepatitis. AIMS: To evaluate the frequency, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of patients with hepatobiliary alterations associated with BMT in a tertiary referral centre. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with data collected from the medical records of patients undergoing BMT between January 2017 and June 2022. We diagnosed hepatobiliary complications based on established criteria. RESULTS: We included 377 patients; 55.7% had hepatobiliary complications. Female gender, pre-BMT hepatobiliary alteration, and haploidentical allogeneic transplantation were associated with increased risk with odds ratios (OR) of 1.8 (p = 0.005), 1.72 (p = 0.013) and 3.25 (p = 0.003), respectively. Patients with hepatobiliary complications spent longer in the hospital than those without (27.7 × 19.3 days, respectively; p < 0.001). Among 210 patients with hepatobiliary complications, 28 died compared to 5 of 167 without complications (OR 4.98; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Hepatobiliary complications are frequent in patients undergoing BMT. There is a greater risk of their occurrence in women, people with pre-BMT liver alterations, and in haploidentical transplants. The occurrence of these complications increases the length of stay and is associated with a higher risk of death.

Treosulfan based reduced toxicity conditioning followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with myelofibrosis.

Allogeneic transplantation is the only potentially curative strategy for myelofibrosis, even in the era of new drugs that so far only mitigate symptoms. The choice to proceed to allogeneic transplantation is based on several variables including age, disease phase, degree of splenomegaly, donor availability, comorbidities and iron overload. These factors, along with conditioning regimen and time to transplantation, may influence the outcome of ASCT. We report 14 patients affected by myelofibrosis with a median age of 57 years (range, 41-76) receiving a treosulfan-fludarabine based reduced toxicity conditioning. Patients (pts) received a stem cell transplantation from an HLA identical (n = 10) or matched unrelated donor (n = 4). All pts had a complete myeloablation followed by engraftment and in 12 out of 13 evaluated pts donor chimerism was 100% at 1 month. In most cases a reduction of splenomegaly and a reduction (or resolution) of bone marrow fibrosis was observed. After a median follow-up of 39 months (range, 3-106), the 3-year probability of overall survival and disease free survival was 54 +/- 14% and 46 +/- 14%, respectively. The cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality at 2 years was 39 +/- 15%. Causes of non-relapse mortality were: infection (n = 2), GvHD (n = 2) and haemorrhage (n = 1). We can conclude that a treosulfan and fludarabine based conditioning has a potent myeloablative and anti-disease activity although non-relapse mortality remains high in this challenging clinical setting. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

High rate of hematological responses to sorafenib in FLT3-ITD acute myeloid leukemia relapsed after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Relapse represents the most significant cause of failure of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for FLT3-ITD-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and available therapies are largely unsatisfactory. In this study, we retrospectively collected data on the off-label use of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib, either alone or in association with hypomethylating agents and adoptive immunotherapy, in 13 patients with post-transplantation FLT3-ITD-positive AML relapses. Hematological response was documented in 12 of 13 patients (92%), and five of 13 (38%) achieved complete bone marrow remission. Treatment was overall manageable in the outpatient setting, although all patients experienced significant adverse events, especially severe cytopenias (requiring a donor stem cell boost in five patients) and typical hand-foot syndrome. None of the patients developed graft-vs.-host disease following sorafenib alone, whereas this was frequently observed when this was given in association with donor T-cell infusions. Six patients are alive and in remission at the last follow-up, and four could be bridged to a second allogeneic HSCT, configuring a 65 ± 14% overall survival at 100 d from relapse. Taken together, our data suggest that sorafenib might represent a valid treatment option for patients with FLT3-ITD-positive post-transplantation relapses, manageable also in combination with other therapeutic strategies.

Post-transplantation Cyclophosphamide and Sirolimus after Haploidentical Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Using a Treosulfan-based Myeloablative Conditioning and Peripheral Blood Stem Cells.

Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) performed using bone marrow (BM) grafts and post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) has gained much interest for the excellent toxicity profile after both reduced-intensity and myeloablative conditioning. We investigated, in a cohort of 40 high-risk hematological patients, the feasibility of peripheral blood stem cells grafts after a treosulfan-melphalan myeloablative conditioning, followed by a PTCy and sirolimus-based graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis (Sir-PTCy). Donor engraftment occurred in all patients, with full donor chimerism achieved by day 30. Post-HSCT recovery of lymphocyte subsets was broad and fast, with a median time to CD4 > 200/µL of 41 days. Cumulative incidences of grade II to IV and III-IV acute GVHD were 15% and 7.5%, respectively, and were associated with a significant early increase in circulating regulatory T cells at day 15 after HSCT, with values < 5% being predictive of subsequent GVHD occurrence. The 1-year cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD was 20%. Nonrelapse mortality (NRM) at 100 days and 1 year were 12% and 17%, respectively. With a median follow-up for living patients of 15 months, the estimated 1-year overall and disease-free survival (DFS) was 56% and 48%, respectively. Outcomes were more favorable in patients who underwent transplantation in complete remission (1-year DFS 71%) versus patients who underwent transplantation with active disease (DFS, 34%; P = .01). Overall, myeloablative haploidentical HSCT with peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) and Sir-PTCy is a feasible treatment option: the low rates of GVHD and NRM as well as the favorable immune reconstitution profile pave the way for a prospective comparative trial comparing BM and PBSC in this specific transplantation setting.

Plerixafor on demand in ten healthy family donors as a rescue strategy to achieve an adequate graft for stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND: In allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation, the collection of an appropriate number of HSCs while maintaining a high level of safety for healthy donors is fundamental. Inadequate HSC mobilization can be seen with the standard use of granulocyte-colony-stimulating (G-CSF). Plerixafor (PL) is a chemokine receptor CXC Type 4-stromal-derived factor 1 inhibitor; its HSC-mobilizing properties are synergistic with G-CSF in poor mobilizing patients. The use of PL as adjuvant or alternative to G-CSF in healthy donors has shown a good safety profile but is so far off-label. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We report 10 healthy HSC donors treated with PL because of insufficient response to G-CSF alone or contraindication to G-CSF. Eight donors did not mobilize enough CD34+ cells with G-CSF alone because poor mobilizers or because insufficient HSCs were harvested according to the clinical need of the patient; in two cases G-CSF administration and marrow harvest were unfeasible or contraindicated in the donor. RESULTS: The use of PL for mobilization increased the number of circulating CD34+ cells by 2.8-fold and the CD34+/kg collection by 3.0-fold. Only mild adverse events were reported (bone pain or discomfort) and not univocally attributable to PL. Rate of engraftment and graft-versus-host disease were similar to those seen in recipients of grafts from G-CSF only-mobilized donors. CONCLUSION: We exposed 10 allogeneic donors to mobilization with PL. PL was well tolerated in all cases and ensured procurement of an adequate graft for transplantation resulting in a normal hematopoietic engraftment.

COMPARISON OF HEPATIC PROFILE IN PRE AND POSTOPERATIVE OF BARIATRIC SURGERY: PRIVATE VS PUBLIC NETWORK.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated to several comorbidities, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which implicates in isolated steatosis to steatohepatitis. The latter may progress to severe manifestations such as liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. AIM: To compare the presence of advanced liver fibrosis before and after bariatric surgery in patients of private and public health system. METHODS: Patients from public and privative networks were studied before and after bariatric surgery. The presence or absence of advanced hepatic fibrosis was evaluated by NAFLD Fibrosis Score, a non-invasive method that uses age, BMI, AST/ALT ratio, albumin, platelet count and the presence or absence of hyperglycemia or diabetes. The characteristics of the two groups were compared. The established statistical significance criterion was p<0.05. RESULTS: Were analyzed 40 patients with a mean age of 34.6±9.5 years for private network and 40.6± 10.2 years for public. The study sample, 35% were treated at private health system and 65% in the public ones, 38% male and 62% female. Preoperatively in the private network one (7.1%) patient had advanced liver fibrosis and developed to the absence of liver fibrosis after surgery. In the public eight (30.8%) patients had advanced liver fibrosis preoperatively, and at one year after the proportion fell to six (23%). CONCLUSION: The non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in its advanced form is more prevalent in obese patients treated in the public network than in the treated at the private network and bariatric surgery may be important therapeutic option in both populations.