Impact of the practice of touch-massage® by a nurse on the anxiety of patients with hematological disorders hospitalized in a sterile environment, a randomized, controlled study.

CONTEXT: In addition to curative care, supportive care is beneficial in managing the anxiety symptoms common in patients in sterile hematology unit. We hypothesize that personal massage can help the patient, particularly in this isolated setting where physical contact is extremely limited. The main objective of this study was to show that anxiety could be reduced after a touch-massage® performed by a nurse trained in this therapy. METHODS: A single-center, randomized, unblinded controlled study in the sterile hematology unit of a French university hospital, validated by an ethics committee. The patients, aged between 18 and 65 years old, and suffering from a serious and progressive hematological pathology, were hospitalized in sterile hematology unit for a minimum of three weeks, patients were randomized into either a group receiving 15-minute touch-massage® sessions or a control group receiving an equivalent amount of quiet time once a week for three weeks. In the treated group, anxiety was assessed before and after each touch-massage® session, using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire with subscale state (STAI-State). In the control group, anxiety was assessed before and after a 15-minute quiet period. For each patient, the difference in the STAI-State score before and after each session (or period) was calculated, the primary endpoint was based on the average of these three differences. Each patient completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire before the first session and after the last session. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients were randomized. Touch-massage® significantly decreased patient anxiety: a mean decrease in STAI-State scale score of 10.6 [7.65-13.54] was obtained for the massage group (p ≤ 0.001) compared with the control group. The improvement in self-esteem score was not significant. CONCLUSION: This study provides convincing evidence for integrating touch-massage® in the treatment of patients in sterile hematology unit. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02343965.

Outcome of patients with newly diagnosed AML admitted to the ICU, including preemptive admission - a multi-center study.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can lead to life-threatening complications that may require intensive care unit (ICU) management. It has been advocated that early preemptive (ePE) ICU admission, before the onset of organ failure, could benefit some high-risk patients such as those with hyperleukocytosis. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the outcome of newly diagnosed AML patients who required ICU admission in five academic centers with a special focus on patients with an ePE admission strategy, i.e., those transferred to the ICU without any organ failure (modified SOFA score ≤ 2 [omitting thrombocytopenia] and no life-sustaining intervention in the first 24 h following ICU admission) before the start of induction therapy. Between January 2017 and December 2019, 428 patients were included among which 101 were admitted to the ICU. Among patients requiring life-sustaining interventions (n = 83), 18 (22%) died while in the ICU but ICU survivors had the same survival as those not admitted to the ICU. Patients with an ePE admission (n = 18) had more comorbidities and high-risk disease features such as hyperleukocytosis but required no life-sustaining interventions while in the ICU. In a subgroup analysis of patients with hyperleukocytosis ≥ 50 G/l at diagnosis (n = 85), patients not admitted to the ICU and those admitted with an ePE strategy had similar outcomes. This study provides encouraging results about ICU outcome in AML patients during induction therapy but the potential benefit of an ePE strategy must be confirmed prospectively.

Outcome after allogeneic stem cell transplantation with haploidentical versus HLA-matched donors in patients with higher-risk MDS.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation remains the best curative option for higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome. The presence of monosomal karyotype and/or complex karyotype abnormalities predicts inferior survival after allo-SCT in MDS patients. Haploidentical allo-SCT has been increasingly used in acute leukemia (AL) and has similar results as using HLA-matched donors, but data on higher-risk MDS is sparse. We compared outcomes in 266 patients with higher-risk MDS after HLA-matched sibling donor (MSD, n = 79), HLA-matched unrelated donor (MUD, n = 139) and HLA haploidentical donor (HID, n = 48) from 2010 to 2019. Median donor age differed between the three groups (p < 0.001). The overall survival was significantly different between the three groups with a better OS observed in the MUD group (p = 0.014). This observation could be explained by a higher progression-free survival with MUD (p = 0.014). The cumulative incidence of grade 2-4 acute GvHD was significantly higher in the HID group (p = 0.051). However, in multivariable analysis, patients transplanted using an HID had comparable mortality to patients transplanted using a MUD (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR]: 0.58 [0.32-1.07]; p = 0.080) and a MSD ([sHR]: 0.56 [0.28-1.11]; p = 0.094). MUD do not remain a significant positive predictor of survival, suggesting that beyond the donor-recipient HLA matching, the donor age might impact recipient outcome.

Comparison of scoring systems evaluating suitability for intensive chemotherapy in adults with acute myeloid leukemia-a Grand Ouest Against Leukemia (GOAL) study.

Several scoring systems have been developed to assess suitability of individual patients for intensive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) therapy. We sought to compare the performance of these scores in a cohort of 428 consecutive adults with AML who received conventional induction chemotherapy in five academic centers in France. All scoring systems identified a subset of patients with increased 28 and 56-day mortality although the prediction accuracy was overall limited with C-statistics of ranging from 0.61 to 0.71 Overall survival (OS) prediction was more limited and restricted to scoring systems that include AML-related parameters. The outcome of 104 patients (24%) considered unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy based on criteria used in recent randomized trials was similar to that of the other 324 patients (28-day mortality, odds ratio [OR] = 1.88, P = 0.2; 56-day mortality, OR = 1.71, P = 0.21; event-free survival, hazard ratio [HR] = 1.08, P = 0.6; OS, HR = 1.25, P = 0.14) with low discrimination (C-statistic: 0.57, 0.56, 0.50, and 0.52 for 28-day, 56-day mortality, EFS, and OS, respectively). Together, our findings indicate that the accuracy of currently available approaches to identify patients at increased risk of early mortality and shortened survival after intensive AML therapy is relatively limited. Caution regarding the use of available scoring systems should be warranted in clinical decision-making.

Correction: Long-term outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for Shwachman-Diamond syndrome: a retrospective analysis and a review of the literature by the Severe Aplastic Anemia Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (SAAWP-EBMT).

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Long-term outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for Shwachman-Diamond syndrome: a retrospective analysis and a review of the literature by the Severe Aplastic Anemia Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (SAAWP-EBMT).

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative procedure in patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) with bone marrow abnormalities. The results of 74 patients with SDS (6 acute myeloid leukemia, 7 myelodysplastic syndrome, and 61 bone marrow failure) treated with HSCT between 1988 and 2016 are reported. The donor source was: 24% sibling, 8% parent, and 68% unrelated donor. The stem cell source was: 70% bone marrow, 19% peripheral blood stem cells, and 11% cord blood. The conditioning regimen was myeloablative in 54% and reduced intensity in 46%. Neutrophil engraftment was achieved in 84% of patients after a median time of 17.5 days. Graft failure occurred in 15% of HSCTs. Grades I-IV acute and chronic GVHD were observed in 55% and 20% of patients, respectively. After a median follow-up of 7.3 years (95% CI 4.8-10.2), 28 patients died for progression/relapse (7) or toxicity (21). The 5-year overall survival and nonrelapse mortality were 63.3% (95% CI 50.8-73.4) and 19.8% (95% CI 10.8-30.8), respectively. In conclusion, this is the largest series so far reported and confirms that HSCT is a suitable option for patients with SDS. Further efforts are needed to lower transplant-related toxicity and reduce graft failure.

Single-agent daratumumab in very advanced relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients: a real-life single-center retrospective study.

The anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab is approved as a single agent for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who have received at least three prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and an immunomodulatory agent (IMID), or who are double refractory to a PI and an IMID. To date, no real-life data on the efficacy and tolerance of daratumumab in this setting are available. We report here the results of a single-center series of 41 RRMM patients treated with single-agent daratumumab outside clinical trials. Patients received a median number of 4 prior therapies. All patients were previously exposed to PI and IMID and all patients were refractory to the last line of therapy. Most patients presented with high-risk characteristics, including 24% adverse cytogenetics (del17p/t(4,14)), 31% extramedullary disease and 12% circulating plasmacytosis at time of daratumumab therapy. The overall response rate was 24%, including 5% very good partial response or better. After a median follow-up of 6.5 months, all patients experienced disease relapse. The median progression-free survival was 1.9 months. At the time of disease progression, 44% of patients did not receive subsequent therapy. The median overall survival was 6.5 months. No new safety signal was identified. These real-life results revealed modest efficacy of single-agent daratumumab in advanced patients with RRMM in comparison with data from clinical trials.

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma: A Retrospective Study of the Société Française de Greffe de Moelle et de Thérapie Cellulaire (SFGM-TC).

Because the indication of allograft (allogeneic stem cell transplantation [alloSCT]) for multiple myeloma (MM) has widened in recent years, thanks to the development of reduced-intensity conditionings (RIC), it is still unclear if myeloablative conditioning (MAC) remains appropriate. This study compares retrospectively outcomes of patients undergoing either RIC or MAC regimens for MM. Based on the SFGM-TC registry, we included 446 MM patients receiving alloSCT between 1999 and 2009 for whom a minimal data set was available. Median follow-up for the entire cohort was 33.6 months (range, 0 to 164.5). RIC and MAC populations were different regarding age (53.5 versus 47.1 years, respectively), number of prior autologous (auto)SCTs (93.2% versus 79.6% had at least 2 autoSCTs), and stem cell source (90.2% versus 61.2% received peripheral blood). For RIC and MAC populations the nonrelapse mortality at 2 years was 24.6% and 22.4%, respectively, progression-free survival 35.5% and 51.1%, and overall survival 59.5% and 66.7% (not significant). These outcomes were not affected by conditioning intensity either on univariate or multivariate analysis. Despite some limitations in the study design, these results indicate that MAC should remain a valuable option in alloSCT for MM, especially for young and less-treated patient with no comorbidity. The constant progress in induction treatments of MM and supportive care after alloSCT could improve these results in the near future.

Long-term outcomes after reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic stem cell transplantation for low-grade lymphoma: a survey by the French Society of Bone Marrow Graft Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (SFGM-TC).

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: High-dose chemotherapy with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) has proven to be a successful treatment for low-grade lymphoma (LGL), but is associated with considerable transplant-related mortality (TRM). In an effort to reduce toxic mortality while maintaining the graft-versus-leukemia effect, allogeneic SCT has been combined with a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen. The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of patients with LGL treated with RIC allogeneic SCT. DESIGN AND METHODS: This retrospective multicenter study included 73 patients with relapsed or refractory LGL allografted after a RIC regimen between 1998 and 2005 whose data were recorded in a French registry. RESULTS: Patients received a median of three lines of therapy prior to RIC allogeneic SCT. The most widely used conditioning regimens were fludarabine + busulfan + antithymocyte globulin (n=43) and fludarabine + total body irradiation (n=21). Prior to allografting, patients were in complete response (CR; n=21), partial response (PR; n=33) or had chemoresistant disease (n=19). The median follow-up was 37 months (range, 16 to 77 months). In patients in CR, PR and chemoresistant disease, the 3-year overall survival rates were 66%, 64% and 32%, respectively, while the 3-year event-free survival rates were 66%, 52% and 32%, respectively. The 3-year cumulative incidences of TRM were 32%, 28% and 63%, respectively. The incidence of relapse was 9.6%. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Although associated with significant TRM, RIC allogeneic SCT in advanced chemosensitive disease leads to long-term survival.