Long-term outcome of patients receiving haematopoietic allogeneic stem cell transplantation as first transplant for high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma: a retrospective analysis from the Lymphoma Working Party-EBMT

We analysed long-term outcome of patients receiving haematopoietic allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) as a first transplant for high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). One hundred and ninety patients were included in this study, 63% of them had previously received brentuximab vedotin and/or checkpoint inhibitors. Seventy patients (37%) received an unrelated donor allo-HSCT, 99 (51%) had myeloablative conditioning (MAC) and 60% had in vivo T-cell/depleted grafts (TCD). The 100-day cumulative incidence (CI) of grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was 25% and the 3-year CI of chronic GVHD was 38%. The 3-year CI of non-relapse mortality (NRM) and relapse rate were 21% and 38% respectively. After a median follow-up of 58 months, 3-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 58% and 41% respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that, in comparison to reduced-intensity conditioning regimens with or without TCD, MAC using TCD had similar NRM and a lower risk of relapse leading to significantly better OS and PFS. MAC without TCD was associated with higher NRM and worse survival outcomes. These results suggest that in patients with high-risk HL and candidates of allo-HSCT, a MAC strategy with TCD might be the best option.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for advanced mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome. An updated experience of the Lymphoma Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation

BACKGROUND

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment option in advanced-stage mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS). This study presents an updated analysis of the initial experience of the Lymphoma Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) describing the outcomes after allo-HSCT for MF and SS, with special emphasis on the impact of the use of unrelated donors (URD).

METHODS AND PATIENTS

Eligible for this study were patients with advanced-stage MF or SS who underwent a first allo-HSCT from matched HLA-identical related or URD between January/1997 and December/2011. Sixty patients have been previously reported.

RESULTS

113 patients were included [77 MF (68%)]; 61 (54%) were in complete or partial remission, 86 (76%) received reduced-intensity protocols and 44 (39%) an URD allo-HSCT. With a median follow up for surviving patients of 73 months, allo-HSCT resulted in an estimated overall survival (OS) of 38% at 5 years, and a progression-free survival (PFS) of 26% at 5 years. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that advanced-phase disease (complete remission/partial remission >3, primary refractory or relapse/progression in patients that had received 3 or more lines of systemic treatment prior to transplant or the number of treatment lines was not known), a short interval between diagnosis and transplant (<18 months) were independent adverse prognostic factors for PFS; advanced-phase disease and the use of URDs were independent adverse prognostic factors for OS.

CONCLUSIONS

This extended series supports that allo-HSCT is able to effectively rescue over one third of the population of patients with advanced-stage MF/SS. High relapse rate is still the major cause of failure and needs to be improved with better strategies before and after transplant. The negative impact of URD is a matter of concern and needs to be further elucidated in future studies.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for patients with relapsed/refractory systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma. A retrospective analysis of the Lymphoma Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Information regarding the curative role of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) in systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) is scarce. We analyzed the results of allo-HCT in patients with relapsed/refractory sALCL with special emphasis on the role of brentuximab vedotin (BV) as a bridge to allo-HCT. Forty-four patients (24 females, median age 38 years) with sALCL were included. Twenty-three patients (52%) received BV before allo-HCT; BV-treated patients were more heavily pretreated (≥3 lines of therapy in 74% vs. 38%, p = 0.04). Twenty-three patients (52%) were in complete remission (CR) at allo-HCT. Three-year nonrelapse mortality and incidence of relapse (IR) after allo-HCT were 7% and 40%, respectively. With a median follow-up of 39 (12-69) months for survivors, 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were 53% and 74%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that heavily pretreated patients and those not in CR had a higher IR and a lower PFS. The use of BV before transplant did not impact on any of the outcomes. Allo-HCT is a curative therapeutic strategy in a significant proportion of patients with relapsed/refractory sALCL; BV does not seem to modify transplant-related outcomes but might be able to render more patients candidates for this curative treatment.

Reduced intensity allogeneic stem cell transplantation for follicular lymphoma relapsing after an autologous transplant achieves durable long-term disease control: an analysis from the Lymphoma Working Party of the EBMT†

BACKGROUND

Patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) relapsing after an autologous transplant (autoSCT) may be treated with a variety of therapies, including a reduced intensity allogeneic transplant (RICalloSCT). We conducted a retrospective analysis of a large cohort of patients undergoing RICalloSCT for FL in this setting.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 183 patients, median age 45 years (range 21-69), had undergone an autoSCT at a median of 30 months before the RICalloSCT. Before the RICalloSCT, they had received a median of four lines (range 3-10) of therapy and 81% of patients had chemosensitive disease and 16% had chemoresistant disease. Grafts were donated from sibling (47%) or unrelated donors (53%).

RESULTS

With a median follow-up of 59 months, the non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 27% at 2 years. The median remission duration post-autoSCT and RICalloSCT was 14 and 43 months, respectively. The 5-year relapse/progression rate, progression-free survival and overall survival were 16%, 48% and 51%, respectively, and were associated with age and disease status at RICalloSCT.

CONCLUSION

These data suggest that an RICalloSCT is an effective salvage strategy in patients with FL recurring after a prior autoSCT and might overcome the poor prognostic impact of early relapse after autoSCT.

Thiotepa-based high-dose therapy for autologous stem cell transplantation in lymphoma: a retrospective study from the EBMT

Clinical information about thiotepa-based autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) outside the primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) field is sparse. In this registry-based retrospective study, we evaluated potential risks and benefits of thiotepa-based preparative regimens compared with BEAM (carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan) in auto-SCT for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL, excluding PCNSL), follicular lymphoma (FL) or Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). A total of 14 544 patients (589 thiotepa and 13 955 BEAM) met the eligibility criteria, and 535 thiotepa- and 1031 BEAM-treated patients were matched in a 1:2 ratio for final comparison. No significant differences between thiotepa and BEAM groups for any survival end point were identified in the whole sample or disease entity subsets. For a more detailed analysis, 47 TEAM (thiotepa, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan)-treated patients were compared with 75 matched BEAM patients with additional collection of toxicity data. Again, there were no significant differences between the two groups for any survival end point. In addition, the frequency of common infectious and non-infectious complications including secondary malignancies was comparable between TEAM and BEAM. These results indicate that thiotepa-based high-dose therapy might be a valuable alternative to BEAM in DLBCL, HL and FL. Further evaluation by prospective clinical trials is warranted.