Hope for Motherhood: Pregnancy After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation - a National Multicenter Study.

Improved long-term survival rates after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) make family planning for young adult cancer survivors an important topic. However, treatment-related infertility risk poses challenges. To assess pregnancy and birth rates in a contemporary cohort, we conducted a national multicenter study using data from the German Transplant Registry, focusing on adult women aged 18-40 who underwent alloHCT between 2003 and 2018. Out of 2,654 transplanted women, 50 women experienced 74 pregnancies, occurring at a median of 4.7 years post-transplant. Fifty-seven of these resulted in live births (77%). The annual first birth rate among HCT recipients was 0.45% (95%CI: 0.31 - 0.59%), which is more than six times lower than in the general population. The probability of a live birth 10 years after HCT was 3.4 % (95%CI: 2.3- 4.5%). Factors associated with an increased likelihood of pregnancy were younger age at alloHCT, non-malignant transplant indications, no total-body-irradiation (TBI) or a cumulative dose of <8 Gray, and non-myeloablative/reduced-intensity conditioning. 72% of pregnancies occurred spontaneously, with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) used in the remaining cases. Preterm delivery and low birth weight were more common than in the general population. This study represents the largest dataset reporting pregnancies in a cohort of adult female alloHCT recipients. Our findings underscore a meaningful chance of pregnancy in alloHCT recipients. ART techniques are important and funding should be made available. However, the potential for spontaneous pregnancies should not be underestimated, and patients should be informed of the possibility of unexpected pregnancy despite reduced fertility. Further research is warranted to understand the impact of conditioning decisions on fertility preservation.

Allogeneic CD19/CD22 CAR T-Cell Therapy for B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

This case series reports durable remissions in 2 patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with allogeneic bispecific CD19/CD22-targeting chimeric antigen receptor T cells.

Case Report: Paraneoplastic psoriasis in thymic carcinoma.

Thymic carcinomas are exceedingly rare and very aggressive malignancies of the anterior mediastinum. While thymomas exhibit a high association with paraneoplastic syndromes, these phenomena are a rarity in thymic carcinomas. In general, acanthotic syndromes such as acroceratosis neoplastica and acanthosis nigricans maligna are commonly observed as paraneoplastic phenomena in patients with carcinomas. In contrast, psoriasis vulgaris, another acanthotic disease, rarely occurs as a paraneoplasia. We report the case of a 36-year-old patient with progressive thymic carcinoma (undifferentiated carcinoma, T3N2M1a) and paraneoplastic psoriasis occurring ten months before the initial diagnosis of the carcinoma. Over the course of the disease, new psoriatic flares heralded relapse or progression of the carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of paraneoplastic psoriasis in thymic carcinoma.

Long-term outcomes after standard graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis with or without anti-human-T-lymphocyte immunoglobulin in haemopoietic cell transplantation from matched unrelated donors: final results of a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Previously, we demonstrated that the addition of anti-human-T-lymphocyte immunoglobulin (ATLG) to standard ciclosporin and methotrexate prophylaxis reduced graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in adult patients treated with allogeneic haemopoietic cell transplantation from matched unrelated donors without negatively affecting relapse and survival. Since reports on long-term results from randomised trials testing anti-thymocyte globulin are scarce, we performed an extended follow-up of the trial. METHODS: Between May 26, 2003, and Feb 8, 2007, 202 patients with haematological malignancies were centrally randomly assigned using computer-generated centre-stratified block randomisation to receive ciclosporin and methotrexate with or without ATLG. 201 patients who underwent transplantation with peripheral blood (n=164; 82%) or bone marrow (n=37; 18%) grafts after myeloablative conditioning were included in the full analysis set, and were analysed according to their randomly assigned treatment (ATLG n=103, non-ATLG n=98). We assessced chronic GvHD, non-relapse mortality, relapse, relapse mortality, disease-free survival, overall survival, severe GvHD-free (acute GvHD III-IV, and extensive chronic GvHD) and relapse-free survival, and time under immunosuppressive therapy after long-term follow-up. The trial is registered with the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00000002), ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00655343), and EudraCT (2004-000232-91). FINDINGS: Median follow-up was 8·6 years (IQR 8·0-9·3). Only patients at risk for chronic GvHD (ie, patients who were alive and without a second transplant at 100 days) were included in the analyses of chronic GvHD (90 patients in the ATLG group, 80 patients in the non-ATLG group). At 8 years, the incidence of extensive chronic GvHD was 14% (95% CI 8-29) in the ATLG group versus 52% (42-64) in the non-ATLG group (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·18, 95% CI 0·09-0·34; p<0·0001). Non-relapse mortality was 21% (95% CI 14-30) versus 34% (26-45; adjusted HR 0·66, 95% CI 0·38-1·16; p=0·15), incidence of relapse was 35% (95% CI 27-46) versus 30% (22-41; adjusted HR 1·17, 95% CI 0·71-1·93; p=0·54), relapse mortality was 31% (95% CI 23-41) versus 29% (21-40; adjusted HR 1·03, 95% CI 0·61-1·76; p=0·90), disease-free survival was 44% (95% CI 35-54) versus 36% (27-46) (adjusted HR 0·91, 95% CI 0·63-1·31; p=0·60), overall survival was 49% (95% CI 39-59) versus 37% (27-47; adjusted HR 0·82, 95% CI 0·56-1·20; p=0·31), and severe GvHD-free and relapse-free survival was 34% (25-43) versus 13% (7-21) (adjusted HR 0·55, 95% CI 0·39-0·76; p=0·0003). The probability of being alive and free of immunosuppressive therapy was 47% (95% 37-57) in the ATLG group and 11% (5-18) in the non-ATLG group at 8 years. INTERPRETATION: ATLG in addition to standard ciclosporin and methotrexate as GvHD prophylaxis improves severe GvHD-free and relapse-free survival in the long term. The use of ATLG in unrelated donor transplantation after myeloablative conditioning substantially increases the probability of surviving free of immunosuppressive therapy, and thus reduces the risk associated with long-term immunosuppression. FUNDING: Neovii Biotech.

Second allograft for hematologic relapse of acute leukemia after first allogeneic stem-cell transplantation from related and unrelated donors: the role of donor change.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of a second allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT2) given for relapsed acute leukemia (AL) after related or unrelated first hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT1) and to analyze the role of donor change for HSCT2 in both settings. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective registry study on 179 HSCT2s given for relapse after HSCT1 from matched related donors (n = 75) or unrelated donors (n = 104), using identical or alternative donors for HSCT2. Separate analyses were performed according to donor at HSCT1. RESULTS: Independent of donor, 74% of patients achieved complete remission after HSCT2, and half of these patients experienced relapse again. Overall survival (OS) at 2 years was 25% ± 4% (39% ± 7% after related HSCT2; 19% ± 4% after unrelated HSCT2). Long-term survivors were observed even after two unrelated HSCT2s. Multivariate analysis for OS from HSCT2 confirmed established risk factors (remission duration after HSCT1: hazard ratio [HR], 2.37; 95% CI, 1.61 to 3.46; P < .001; stage at HSCT2: HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.34 to 0.83; P = .006). Outcome of HSCT2 was better after related HSCT1 than after unrelated HSCT1 (2-year OS: 37% ± 6% v 16% ± 4%, respectively; HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.98; P = .042, multivariate Cox regression). After both related and unrelated HSCT1, selecting a new donor for HSCT2 did not result in a relevant improvement in OS compared with HSCT2 from the original donor; however, donor change was not detrimental either. CONCLUSION: After relapse from allogeneic HSCT1, HSCT2 can induce 2-year OS in approximately 25% of patients. Unrelated HSCT2 is feasible after related and unrelated HSCT1. Donor change for HSCT2 is a valid option. However, a clear advantage in terms of OS could not be demonstrated.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with reduced-intensity conditioning following FLAMSA for primary refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia.

Patients with primary refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a dismal prognosis. We report a retrospective single center analysis of aplasia-inducing chemotherapy using fludarabine, cytarabine, and amsacrine (FLAMSA) followed by reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in 62 consecutive primary refractory or relapsed AML patients. Two-year event-free survival and overall survival (OS) were 26 and 39%, respectively. Risk stratification according to cytogenetic and molecular genetic markers showed superior survival in patients in the intermediate-1 risk group (2-year OS 70%) compared to the intermediate-2 risk (2-year OS 34%, p = 0.03) and adverse risk (2-year OS 38%, p = 0.06) group. The use of HLA-matched versus HLA-mismatched donors had no significant influence on survival (p = 0.98). Two-year OS in the elderly subgroup defined by age ≥60 years was 31% compared to 46% in the group of younger patients <60 years (p = 0.19). Cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality at 2 years adjusted for relapse as competing risk was 20% for patients <60 years and 26% for older patients (p = 0.55). Chronic graft-versus-host disease was associated with a statistically significant superior survival (p < 0.01). FLAMSA-RIC followed by allogeneic HCT enables long-term disease-free survival in primary refractory or relapsed AML even in the elderly patient population.