Reduced intensity transplantation for primary immunodeficiency disorders

Escalated Dose Donor Lymphocyte Infusion Treatment in Patients with Primary Immune Deficiencies After HSCT with Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Regimen

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND

Mixed chimerism is a major concern after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen in primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs). A donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) escalating dose regimen has been developed with the aim of reducing toxicity while preserving efficacy. However, the graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) development remains the most common and adverse effect of DLI and continues to be a limiting factor in its application, especially nonmalignant diseases such as PIDs. We prospectively evaluated PID patients after HSCT using RIC in Childrens Medical Center, who were candidates for an escalating dose of DLI for MC from 2016 to 2018.

METHODS

With the median follow-up of 16.4 months, 12 patients (nine males and three females) with a median age of 3.72 years received DLI. The median number of DLI was 3.2 (range, 1-5), the maximum and total dose of DLIs administered per patient were 3.6 × 10⁷ (range, 1-5) cells/kg CD3⁺ and 9.3 × 10⁷ (range, 1-15) cells/kg CD3⁺ cells, respectively.

RESULTS

Median donor chimerism at baseline before the DLIs was 41% (range, 11-73%), patients received DLIs at a median of 105 (range, 37-230) days and 52 (range, 3-168) days after the HSCT and onset of the MC, respectively. At the final assessment, six (54.5%) patients improved after DLIs at a median of 47.3 days.

CONCLUSION

PID patients may benefit from DLI with an escalating dose regimen, but the GvHD development remains a concern during the DLI, and the optimum dose and frequency must be standardized.

[Clinical effect of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with hyper-IgM syndrome]

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the clinical effect of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in children with hyper-IgM syndrome (HIGM).

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 17 children with HIGM who received allo-HSCT. The Kaplan Meier method was used for the survival analysis of the children with HIGM after allo-HSCT.

RESULTS

After allo-HSCT, 16 children were diagnosed with sepsis; 14 tested positive for virus within 100 days after allo-HSCT, among whom 11 were positive for Epstein-Barr virus, 7 were positive for cytomegalovirus, and 2 were positive for JC virus; 9 children were found to have invasive fungal disease. There were 6 children with acute graft-versus-host disease and 3 children with chronic graft-versus-host disease. The median follow-up time was about 2 years, and 3 children died in the early stage after allo-HSCT. The children had an overall survival (OS) rate of 82.35%, an event-free survival (EFS) rate of 70.59%, and a disease-free survival (DFS) rate of 76.47%. The univariate analysis showed that the children receiving HLA-matched allo-HSCT had a significantly higher EFS rate than those receiving HLA-mismatched allo-HSCT (P=0.019) and that the children receiving HLA-matched unrelated allo-HSCT had significantly higher OS, EFS, and DFS rates than those receiving HLA-mismatched unrelated allo-HSCT (P<0.05). Compared with the children with fungal infection after allo-HSCT, the children without fungal infection had significantly higher EFS rate (P=0.02) and DFS rate (P=0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

Allo-HSCT is an effective treatment method for children with HIGM. HLA-matched allo-HSCT and active prevention and treatment of fungal infection and opportunistic infection may help to improve the prognosis of such children.

Multicenter Outcome of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Primary Immune Deficiency Disorders in India

Background

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the curative option for many primary immune deficiency disorders (PID). In the last 5 years, increased awareness, availability of diagnostics based on flow cytometry, genetic testing, improved supportive care, use of reduced toxicity conditioning, and success of haploidentical donor HSCT have improved access to HSCT for children with PID in India. We present results on children with PID who underwent HSCT across India and the factors that influenced outcome.

Patients and Methods

We collected retrospective data on the outcome of HSCT for PID from seven centers. We analyzed the impact of the type of PID, conditioning regimen, time period of HSCT- before or after January 2016, graft versus host disease prophylaxis, cause of mortality and overall survival.

Results

A total of 228 children underwent HSCT for PID at a median age of 12 months (range, 1 to 220 months) with a median follow up of 14.4 months. Infants accounted for 51.3% of the cohort and the male female ratio was 3:1. SCID (25%) and HLH (25%) were the more frequent diagnoses. Matched family donor was available in 36.4% and 44.3% children had a haploidentical HSCT. Reduced and myeloablative conditioning regimens were used with 64% children receiving a treosulfan based conditioning regimen. Peripheral blood stem cells were the predominant graft source at 69.3%. The survival in infants (60.2%) was inferior to children aged over 1 year (75.7% p value = 0.01). Children with Wiskott Aldrich syndrome (74.3%) and chronic granulomatous disease (82.6%) had the best outcomes. The survival was superior in children receiving HSCT from a matched sibling (78%) versus an alternate donor HSCT (61% p value = 0.04). In the cohort transplanted after January 2016 survival improved from 26.8% to 77.5% (p value = 0.00). Infection remains the main cause of mortality at in over 50% children. The 5-year overall survival rate was 68%.

Conclusion

Survival of children with PID undergoing HSCT in India has improved dramatically in last 5 years. Alternate donor HSCT is now feasible and has made a therapeutic option accessible to all children with PID.

Reduced-toxicity alternate-donor stem cell transplantation with posttransplant cyclophosphamide for primary immunodeficiency disorders

We describe here the outcomes of reduced-toxicity alternate-donor stem cell transplant (SCT) with posttransplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) for primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDs) in eight children (haploidentical-seven and matched unrelated donor-one). The conditioning was with serotherapy (alemtuzumab-3/rabbit-anti-thymoglobulin-5); fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and total body irradiation-5 (additional thiotepa-3); fludarabine and treosulfan-2; and fludarabine and busulfan-1. All received PTCy 50 mg/kg on days 3 and 4 as graft versus host disease prophylaxis along with tacrolimus and mycophenolate. Mean CD34 dose was 13.8 × 10⁶ /kg. Two children died because of PIDs. Acute graft versus host disease up to grades I and II was seen in three children. All six survivors are fully donor and disease free at median follow-up of 753 days. Alternate donor SCT with PTCy is feasible in PID and has good outcomes.

Long-term follow-up of IPEX syndrome patients after different therapeutic strategies: An international multicenter retrospective study

Background

Immunodysregulation polyendocrinopathy enteropathy x-linked(IPEX) syndromeis a monogenic autoimmune disease caused by FOXP3 mutations. Because it is a rare disease, the natural history and response to treatments, including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and immunosuppression (IS), have not been thoroughly examined.

Objective

This analysis sought to evaluate disease onset, progression, and long-term outcome of the 2 main treatments in long-term IPEX survivors.

Methods

Clinical histories of 96 patients with a genetically proven IPEX syndrome were collected from 38 institutions worldwide and retrospectively analyzed. To investigate possible factors suitable to predict the outcome, an organ involvement (OI) scoring system was developed.

Results

We confirm neonatal onset with enteropathy, type 1 diabetes, and eczema. In addition, we found less common manifestations in delayed onset patients or during disease evolution. There is no correlation between the site of mutation and the disease course or outcome, and the same genotype can present with variable phenotypes. HSCT patients (n = 58) had a median follow-up of 2.7 years (range, 1 week-15 years). Patients receiving chronic IS (n = 34) had a median follow-up of 4 years (range, 2 months-25 years). The overall survival after HSCT was 73.2% (95% CI, 59.4-83.0) and after IS was 65.1% (95% CI, 62.8-95.8). The pretreatment OI score was the only significant predictor of overall survival after transplant (P = .035) but not under IS.

Conclusions

Patients receiving chronic IS were hampered by disease recurrence or complications, impacting long-term disease-free survival. When performed in patients with a low OI score, HSCT resulted in disease resolution with better quality of life, independent of age, donor source, or conditioning regimen.

Long term outcomes of severe combined immunodeficiency: therapy implications

INTRODUCTION

Newborn screening has led to a better understanding of the prevalence of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) overall and in terms of specific genotypes. Survival has improved following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) with the best outcomes seen following use of a matched sibling donor. However, questions remain regarding the optimal alternative donor source, appropriate use of conditioning and the impact of these decisions on immune reconstitution and other late morbidities. Areas covered: The currently available literature reporting late effects after HCT for SCID and use of alternative therapies including enzyme replacement, alternative donors and gene therapy are reviewed. A literature search was performed on Pubmed and ClinicalTrials.gov using key words 'Severe Combined Immunodeficiency', 'SCID', 'hematopoietic stem cell transplant', 'conditioning', 'gene therapy', 'SCID newborn screening', 'TREC' and 'late effects'. Expert commentary: Newborn screening has dramatically changed the clinical presentation of newborn SCID. While the majority of patients with SCID survive HCT, data regarding late effects in these patients is limited and additional studies focused on genotype specific late effects are needed. Prospective studies aimed at minimizing the use of alkylating agents and reducing late effects beyond survival are needed. Gene therapy is being developed and will likely become a more commonly used treatment that will require separate consideration of survival and late effects.

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantations for Primary Immune Deficiencies: 3 Decades of Experience From a Tertiary Medical Center

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains the leading treatment for the majority of severe primary immune deficiency (PID). This study aims to analyze changes in outcome over time. We conducted a retrospective analysis of HSCT in children with PID in a tertiary medical center over the period of 1983 to 2012. We identified 93 children with PID with a median follow-up of 3.6 years (range, 29 d to 21.2 y) after HSCT. The 2-year survival rates after HSCT for children with severe combined immune deficiency, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis/lymphoproliferative disease, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, granulocyte defect, and undefined PID were 65.7%±6.8%, 80%±10.3%, 83.3%±15.2%, 75%±12.5%, and 25%±21.7%, respectively. Survival was associated with year of HSCT and matching. The hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) for HSCT done in 1983 to 1999 compared with 2000 to 2012 and for matched (related and unrelated) compared with mismatched donor were 2.14 (0.99 to 4.653) and 3.07 (1.46 to 6.4), respectively. Survival was not associated with age, sex of the recipient, underlying PID, conditioning regimen, and presence of acute graft-versus-host disease. After adjustment to the underlying PID, donor and use of fludarabine-based conditioning, the HR (95% CI) for HSCT from the year 2000 was 4.69 (range, 1.4 to 15.45). Advances in HSCT over time have improved the survival of children with PID.

Successful treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma using R-CHOP in a patient with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome followed by a reduced-intensity stem cell transplant

WAS is an X-linked primary immunodeficiency characterized by microthrombocytopenia, eczema, recurrent infections, and increased incidence of autoimmunity and malignancy. HSCT is the only curative treatment for WAS. Herein, we report the case of a 17-yr-old boy with WAS who received an unrelated HSCT while in complete remission of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after chemotherapy. Pretransplant conditioning consisted of fludarabine, busulfan, and total body irradiation (4 Gy). GvHD prophylaxis consisted of tacrolimus and short-course methotrexate. Following HSCT, rapid and stable engraftment was observed. Platelet count gradually increased, and the generalized eczema improved. The patient developed grade II acute GvHD and limited chronic GvHD on days 30 and 210, respectively, which resolved with immunosuppressive treatment. Symptoms caused by the reactivation of human herpes virus-6, BK virus, and VZV were observed from days 21, 60, and 96, respectively; they were resolved after conservative treatment and acyclovir administration. No other regimen-related toxicity was observed. Complete donor bone marrow chimerism was achieved one month after transplantation. RIST is an effective therapeutic option for older children with WAS accompanied by malignant lymphoma.