Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Unravelling the Epigenome of Myelodysplastic Syndrome: Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Response to Therapy

Simple Summary

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a type of blood cancer that mostly affects older individuals. Invasive tests to obtain bone samples are used to diagnose MDS and many patients do not respond to therapy or stop responding to therapy in the short-term. Less invasive tests to help diagnose, prognosticate, and predict response of patients is a felt need. Factors that influence gene expression without changing the DNA sequence (epigenetic modifiers) such as DNA methylation, micro-RNAs and long-coding RNAs play an important role in MDS, are potential biomarkers and may also serve as targets for therapy.

Abstract

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a malignancy that disrupts normal blood cell production and commonly affects our ageing population. MDS patients are diagnosed using an invasive bone marrow biopsy and high-risk MDS patients are treated with hypomethylating agents (HMAs) such as decitabine and azacytidine. However, these therapies are only effective in 50% of patients, and many develop resistance to therapy, often resulting in bone marrow failure or leukemic transformation. Therefore, there is a strong need for less invasive, diagnostic tests for MDS, novel markers that can predict response to therapy and/or patient prognosis to aid treatment stratification, as well as new and effective therapeutics to enhance patient quality of life and survival. Epigenetic modifiers such as DNA methylation, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are perturbed in MDS blasts and the bone marrow micro-environment, influencing disease progression and response to therapy. This review focusses on the potential utility of epigenetic modifiers in aiding diagnosis, prognosis, and predicting treatment response in MDS, and touches on the need for extensive and collaborative research using single-cell technologies and multi-omics to test the clinical utility of epigenetic markers for MDS patients in the future.

Reprint of: Back to the future! The evolving role of maintenance therapy after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Relapse is a devastating event for patients with hematologic cancers treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In most situations, relapse treatment options are limited. Maintenance therapy offers the possibility of delaying or avoiding disease recurrence, but its role remains unclear in most conditions that we treat with transplantation. Here, Dr. Hourigan presents an overview of minimal residual disease (MRD) measurement in hematologic malignancies and the applicability of MRD-based post-transplantation interventions. Dr. McCarthy reviews current knowledge of maintenance therapy in the autologous transplantation context, with emphasis on immunologic interventions and immune modulation strategies designed to prevent relapse. Dr. de Lima discusses current lines of investigation in disease recurrence prevention after allogeneic transplantation, focusing on acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Treatment of Crohn's disease complicated with myelodysplastic syndrome via allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: case report and literature review

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract arising in individuals with genetic predisposing factors and abnormalities of the immune system. Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), an acquired clonal hematologic disorder, is characterized by peripheral blood cytopenia, dysplastic changes in several types of hematopoietic cells of the bone marrow and peripheral blood, and a high risk of transformation to acute leukemia. CD rarely occurs in combination with MDS, and MDS treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has not been frequently reported. We report the case of a 50-year-old Chinese male who presented with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fatigue. CD was diagnosed by colonoscopy, imaging studies, and pathological examination. He was initially treated with mesalazine and prednisone and thereafter he presented with pancytopenia. MDS (RAEB-I) was diagnosed by bone marrow examination, and karyotyping revealed 47, XY, +8. The patient was treated with thalidomide, andriol, and decitabine. Allogeneic HSCT was performed with a human leukocyte antigen-matched sibling as the donor. The patient is currently well at 14 months after HSCT, without abdominal pain, diarrhea, or fatigue. HSCT may be a promising treatment option for patients with combined CD and MDS.

Sensitivity of hematological malignancies to graft-versus-host effects: an EBMT megafile analysis

After allogeneic stem cell transplantation, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) occurs through recognition of histocompatibility mismatches by donor T lymphocytes. The same mechanism operates in eliminating malignant cells (the graft-versus-tumor or GvT effect). We hypothesized that comparing the correlation between GvHD and relapse might provide a surrogate marker for the susceptibility of diseases to allo-immune effects. We studied 48 111 first allogeneic transplants performed between 1998 and 2007. In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), the relapse risk declined clearly and proportionally to severity of acute and chronic GvHD. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia and BCR-ABL-negative myeloproliferative neoplasias were comparably sensitive to GvHD as CML, whereas myelodysplastic syndromes and lymphoproliferative disorders showed intermediate sensitivity. GvHD was only associated with modest reductions in relapse risk in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and plasma cell disorders (PCDs). Except for PCD, hazard rates for relapse decreased to almost 0 at 48 months of follow-up in all diseases. These data confirm observations of potent GvT effects associated with GvHD. The strength of the GvHD/GvT correlation differs significantly between hematological malignancies. The parallel drop of relapse rates in different diseases despite differences in GvHD/GvT ratios suggests that GvT effects might operate in the absence of GvHD, particularly in AML.

Back to the future! The evolving role of maintenance therapy after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Relapse is a devastating event for patients with hematologic cancers treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In most situations, relapse treatment options are limited. Maintenance therapy offers the possibility of delaying or avoiding disease recurrence, but its role remains unclear in most conditions that we treat with transplantation. Here, Dr. Hourigan presents an overview of minimal residual disease (MRD) measurement in hematologic malignancies and the applicability of MRD-based post-transplantation interventions. Dr. McCarthy reviews current knowledge of maintenance therapy in the autologous transplantation context, with emphasis on immunologic interventions and immune modulation strategies designed to prevent relapse. Dr. de Lima discusses current lines of investigation in disease recurrence prevention after allogeneic transplantation, focusing on acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Myelodysplastic syndromes: toward a risk-adapted treatment approach

Several classification and scoring systems have been developed in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS to predict the risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia and survival. These prognostication models have been also used to inform therapeutic decision-making in a risk-adapted fashion. Patient-related factors such as age, comorbidities, and functional status have to be considered as well. Here we review a risk-guided therapeutic approach for the management of MDS patients. It is anticipated that the improved understanding of the complex pathogenesis of MDS and the recent discovery of important molecular lesions will be translated into novel therapeutic approaches. Additionally, some prognostic aberrations are expected to be incorporated into the prognostic tools with the goal of improving their prognostic precision and therefore allow for a more informed therapeutic decision-making based on the individual's risk profile.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for patients with acute leukemia

OBJECTIVE

The purposes of this study were to assess the efficacy of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for acute leukemia (AL) and analyze the factors affecting the prognosis of these patients.

METHODS

The clinical and follow-up data of 93 AL patients (median age, 30 years) undergoing allogeneic HSCT in Xiangya Hospital over the past 12 years were collected, and the potential factors affecting the efficacy and prognosis of allogeneic HSCT patients were determined.

RESULTS

Hematopoietic reconstitution was achieved in 90 patients. At the last follow-up, the incidences of severe acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD) and extensive chronic GvHD (cGvHD) were 14.0% and 20.0%, the 3-year cumulative incidence of transplantation related mortality (TRM) and relapse rate were 16.8%±6.1% and 21.3%±6.7%, and the estimated 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of the patients were 64.6%±5.4% and 56.5%±5.5%, respectively. Univariate analysis indicated that age older than 40 years, HLA mismatch, and severe lung infection within the first 100 days after transplantation were risk factors for severe aGvHD, age older than 40 years, HLA mismatch, severe lung infection within the first 100 days after transplantation, and severe aGvHD were risk factors for TRM, high-risk AL and lack of cGvHD were risk factors for relapse (all P<0.05). Survival estimation showed that HLA mismatch, severe lung infection occurring within the first 100 days post-transplantation, high-risk AL severe aGvHD and lack of cGvHD were risk factors associated with poor prognosis (all P<0.05). Further multivariate analyses revealed that severe lung infection within the first 100 days post-transplantation, severe aGvHD and lack of cGvHD were independent risk factors for unfavorable outcomes (all P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Allogeneic HSCT can improve the DFS of AL patients, and severe lung infection within the first 100 days post-transplantation, severe aGvHD and lack of cGvHD are independent risk factors affecting the prognosis.

Current therapy of myelodysplastic syndromes

After being a neglected and poorly-understood disorder for many years, there has been a recent explosion of data regarding the complex pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). On the therapeutic front, the approval of azacitidine, decitabine, and lenalidomide in the last decade was a major breakthrough. Nonetheless, the responses to these agents are limited and most patients progress within 2 years. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation remains the only potentially curative therapy, but it is associated with significant toxicity and limited efficacy. Lack or loss of response after standard therapies is associated with dismal outcomes. Many unanswered questions remain regarding the optimal use of current therapies including patient selection, response prediction, therapy sequencing and combinations, and management of resistance. It is hoped that the improved understanding of the underpinnings of the complex mechanisms of pathogenesis will be translated into novel therapeutic approaches and better prognostic/predictive tools that would facilitate accurate risk-adaptive therapy.

Combination of azacitidine and lenalidomide in myelodysplastic syndromes or acute myeloid leukemia-a wise liaison?

Treatment options for older patients with advanced myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are limited and the prognosis remains poor, thereby warranting development of novel therapies. Aberrant epigenetic modifications, including altered DNA methylation, seem to contribute to the pathogenesis of these patients. In fact, hypomethylating agents (HMA) like azacitidine have been successfully used in clinical trials and achieved approval from health authorities. There is now growing evidence suggesting that the combination of drugs with different mechanisms of action might offer a potential benefit to these patients. This is especially done with the intention to synergize the positive effects of each drug on the defective hematopoiesis while sparing potential side effects and toxicities. Combination of HMA with histone deacetylase inhibitors, although mechanistically very tempting, have not yielded convincing improvement of the results in the majority of trials compared to single agent HMA treatment. Currently, combination therapies of azacitidine with lenalidomide appear to be promising thus making them an appealing option for treatment in these patients.