Recent Research
Stay up-to-date on the advancing field of HCT with short summaries and links to the most relevant published research.
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Race and ethnicity matching may not impact umbilical cord blood transplant patient outcomes
December 2022Ballen K, et al. – According to research presented at the 64th American Hematology Association (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, race and ethnicity matching may have minimal to no impact on umbilical cord hematopoietic cell transplant (UCB HCT) outcomes. Researchers compared outcomes of non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Asian recipients of UCB HCT finding improved overall survival over time across all racial and ethnic groups. -
Linkage across research databases may provide a more complete understanding of HCT patient outcomes
December 2022Valcarcel B, et al. – Researchers examined the concordance of patient vital status and cause-specific mortality after first hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) between the CIBMTR database and the California Cancer Registry. Presented at the 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, results showed the consistency of vital status between the data sets was high; however, differences between reported data may be due to the length of follow-up and incomplete patient information.
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Socioeconomic status but not race and ethnicity is likely associated with chronic GVHD outcomes after allogeneic HCT
December 2022Nosha F, et al. – Researchers found that low socioeconomic status, but not race and ethnicity, was associated with worse outcomes in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation according to research presented at the 64th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition. -
Long-term risks of hematological malignancy, autoimmune or thrombotic events do not differ in bone marrow and filgrastim-mobilized PBSC donors
December 2022Stefanski HE, et al. – Research presented at the 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition suggests peripheral blood stem cell donors receiving filgrastim are not at an increased risk of malignancy, autoimmune or thrombotic events compared to bone marrow donors who didn’t receive filgrastim. -
Novel three-drug combination improves GVHD-free and relapse-free survival and relapse after allogeneic transplant
December 2022Holtan SG, et al. – Research presented at the 64th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition showed patients with blood cancers who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant and received a novel combination of post-transplant cyclophosphamide, tacrolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil (PTCy/Tac/MMF) compared to standard graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention demonstrated significantly improved GVHD-free and relapse-free survival. -
Hematopoietic cell donor type may not impact quality of life post-transplant
December 2022Najla El, J et al. – Research suggests no significant difference in patient-reported quality of life outcomes between patients receiving a related haploidentical donor or unrelated double umbilical cord blood donor hematopoietic cell transplant with reduced-intensity conditioning, according to data presented at the 64th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition. -
Mismatched donor sources may fill an unmet need for patients without fully matched family or unrelated donors
December 2022Fingerson S, et al. – Research showed most patients who received haploidentical related donor hematopoietic cell transplantation were unlikely to have a fully matched (8/8) unrelated donor match but likely to have a single-mismatched (7/8) donor on the national registry. This data was presented at the 64th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition. -
HLA matching in the setting of PTCy improves outcomes in related and unrelated donor HCT
July 2022Mehta R, et al. – Research published in Transplantation and Cellular Therapy shows better outcomes for matched unrelated donor and matched sibling donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) than haploidentical donor HCT when using post-transplant cyclophosphamide for graft-versus-host disease prevention in a single center study. -
Exploring a standardized approach to measurable residual disease (MRD) testing prior to allogeneic HCT
June 2022Hourigan CS, et al. – Research presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting explores a standardized approach to measurable residual disease (MRD) testing in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT). Results support MRD as a useful prognostic tool with the potential to identify relapse risk and provide opportunities to individualize treatment for optimal outcomes. -
Structural racism variable accounts for almost all racial and ethnic disparity AML survival
April 2022Abraham I, et al. – Research published in Blood Advances reviews health disparities among Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Results show a novel structural racism variable accounts for nearly all disparity in AML survival in this first-of-its-kind analysis. -
Lack of collaborative relationships between physician teams associated with HCT care decisions
April 2022Steffens K, et al. – Research shared at the 2022 Tandem Meetings of the ASTCT and CIBMTR presents survey outcomes from community hematology/oncology physicians regarding the strength of their relationships with local transplant centers. Community physicians with a lower self-rated relationship strength with transplant centers reported less support for early HCT treatment behaviors and lower confidence in managing patients post-transplant.
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Age alone should not be a barrier to HCT for adults with AML
April 2022Maakaron JE, et al. – Research published in Bone Marrow Transplantation suggests that age alone should not be a deciding factor when determining candidacy for transplant in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and transplant should be considered a standard of care option for patients of all ages with AML in first complete remission. This study showed that all age groups reached comparable 3-year overall survival, and differences between younger and older groups were better explained by comorbidities and other factors than age.
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Including HLA mismatched unrelated donors and alternative graft sources, Be The Match Registry modeling shows a donor is available for virtually all those in need of HCT
March 2022Chowdhury AS, et al. – Research presented at the 2022 Tandem Meetings of the ASTCT and CIBMTR shows that expanding donor registry models to include mismatched unrelated donors (MMUDs) down to a 5/8 HLA match expands access to nearly 100% of patients in need of HCT. Based on alternative graft sources and advances in graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis following allogeneic HCT, MMUD has the potential to expand HCT access, particularly among racially and ethnically diverse patients. -
Assessment of the racial and ethnic diversity on Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) trials shows a need to do better
March 2022Horowitz MM, et al. – Research presented at the 2022 Tandem Meetings of the ASTCT and CIBMTR shows that racially and ethnically diverse patients considering hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) are underrepresented in clinical trials conducted by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN). Data suggest major barriers not only for enrollment in clinical trials, but for ensuring underrepresented groups are included in the overall pipeline for HCT consideration. -
Creation and evaluation of a Search Summary Score tool for rapid unrelated HCT donor search assessment shows value, particularly for those without a fully matched donor
March 2022Fingerson S, et al. – Presented at the 2022 Tandem Meetings of the ASTCT and CIBMTR, researchers evaluated a new Search Summary Score tool to provide rapid assessment of donor search productivity, showcasing its ability to streamline the search process for HCT. This tool allows clinical teams to focus their search strategies on the most likely available donor sources, particularly for racially and ethnically diverse patients and others less likely to have an HLA fully matched donor. -
NMDP/Be The Match report shows that neither COVID-19 nor cryopreservation prevented allogeneic product infusion
March 2022Stefanski H, et al. – A report presented at the 2022 Tandem Meetings of the ASTCT and CIBMTR from the NMDP/Be The Match shows that despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, HCT products can be reliably sourced and preserved without negative impacts to donors or patients. Cryopreserved products and products from COVID-19 positive donors appear to pose no overt risk. -
Early data show COVID-19 vaccination is less effective in those who have undergone cellular transplants in the past year, with more data needed
March 2022Riches ML, et al. – Early data in an ongoing study presented at the 2022 Tandem Meetings of the ASTCT and CIBMTR show COVID-19 vaccination is less effective in those who have undergone cellular transplants and therapies in the last year, with more data needed to determine the ideal timing and number of boosters needed for this population. Vaccination continues to be important following transplant due to higher risk of COVID-19 complications in these vulnerable patients. -
Younger matched unrelated donors provide outcome benefits over older matched siblings for MDS patients undergoing allogeneic transplant
March 2022Murthy GSG, et al. – Research published in JAMA Oncology finds relapse and disease-free survival advantages when using younger matched unrelated donors over older matched sibling donors for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for myelodysplastic syndrome. -
Risk predictor tool guides haploidentical donor selection for HCT
March 2022Fuchs EJ, et al. – An observational study conducted by the CIBMTR published in Blood evaluated the impact of HLA-locus specific matching in haploidentical HCT using post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy). The study results were used to create a tool to help with optimal haploidentical HCT donor selection based on predicted disease-free survival. -
Cryopreservation relieves access issues for patients needing HCT during the COVID-19 pandemic
March 2022Wren J, et al. – Research presented at the 2022 Tandem Meetings of the ASTCT and CIBMTR shows the effectiveness of the NMDP/Be The Match BioBank, collaborating with multiple transplant centers and cell therapy labs to ensure access to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) during the COVID-19 pandemic through cryopreservation. -
3-Year outcomes remain very good in mismatched unrelated donor HCT patients, highlighting potential to expand access
March 2022Shaw BE, et al. – Research presented at the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Annual Meeting shows outcomes remain very good at 3-years for patients receiving a mismatched unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplant (MMUD HCT) with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy). Patients receiving reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) in particular have excellent survival and very low rates of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). -
Abatacept can reduce racial disparities by mitigating the impact of mismatching in unrelated donor HCT
January 2022Qayed M, et al. – Research published in Blood Advances shows reductions in acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in both matched unrelated and mismatched unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (MUD and MMUD HCT) when abatacept is added to standard of care treatment. Effects were substantial in MMUD, revealing abatacept as another promising tool to expand HCT access to those without a fully matched donor, which is more common for racially and ethnically diverse patients.
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Less HLA mismatching may provide better outcomes over haploidentical donor HCT in the setting of PTCy
January 2022Battipaglia G, et al. – Research published in Bone Marrow Transplantation finds that less HLA mismatching is associated with better overall survival, non-relapse mortality, and leukemia-free survival when comparing one-antigen mismatched unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplant to haploidentical donor HCT in the presence of post-transplant cyclophosphamide.
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HCT provides a significant survival benefit for patients with MDS aged 50 to 75, with no negative impacts on quality of life
December 2021Nakamura R, et al. and Martens M, et al. – Outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) among older patients with advanced myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are similar to younger patients and result in no worse quality of life (QOL). Researchers shared these findings at the 62nd and 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. -
Precision medicine initiative uses whole genome sequencing to identify novel prognostic signatures and the impact of genomic subgroups in MDS allogeneic HCT patients
December 2021Zhang T, et al. – Two research studies presented at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition called attention to the National Marrow Donor Program®/Be The Match® precision medicine initiative by presenting novel prognostic signatures in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) based on whole genome sequencing and examining the impact of genomic subgroups on survival. -
Cryopreservation of allogeneic HCT grafts does not adversely impact early post-HCT outcomes
December 2021Devine S, et al. – Planned cryopreservation of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) grafts during the COVID-19 pandemic did not adversely impact early post-HCT outcomes according to research presented at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. -
Abatacept is a promising tool to expand access to HCT, significantly improves survival in 7-8 MMUD HCT
December 2021Kean LS, et al. – Patients treated with abatacept in combination with the current standard of care for acute graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis after mismatched unrelated donor (7/8 MMUD) allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) had significantly better survival outcomes according to research presented at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. -
MUD outcomes are superior to haploidentical HCT for lymphoma in an apples-to-apples comparison
December 2021Mussetti A, et al. – More apples-to-apples research evidence that matched unrelated donor (MUD) hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) results in superior patient outcomes than haploidentical related donor HCT when available was presented at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. -
Access to and outcomes of HCT for adult underserved populations have improved over time, but African American and other pediatric patients still experience a significant disparity
December 2021Khera N, et al. – Research presented at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition shows that rates of autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants (HCT) have increased more rapidly among African American, Hispanic, and other underserved populations than among non-Hispanic whites from 2009 to 2018. However, a challenge still exists to close the gaps in overall survival for African American and other pediatric patients. -
Addressing barriers to treatment through research and partnership
December 2021The NMDP/Be The Match is working together with our transplant center partners to conduct research and help clear pathways to improve access and outcomes to transplant and cellular therapies. In collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Stem Cell Transplant and Cell Therapy Program, the NMDP/Be The Match has worked to leverage research and establish ongoing partnerships with community oncologists for pre- and post-transplant care, expand the suite of services that make it easier for patients to navigate their care across the continuum, and improve patient access to care by removing logistical and financial barriers. -
BMT CTN 1102 study results support early HCT referral for older patients with MDS
December 2021Ryotaro Nakamura, MD, et al. – In this practice-changing multi-center biologic assignment trial conducted by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN), researchers provide strong evidence that outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) among older patients with advanced myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are similar to younger patients and result in no worse quality of life (QOL). BMT CTN 1102 is currently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, with a corresponding practice change commentary in Cancer.
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Cyclophosphamide is Effective GVHD Prophylaxis in Matched Related and Unrelated HCT
November 2021Ruggeri A, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2017 – In patients with acute leukemia, post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PT-Cy) can effectively control GVHD after matched related and unrelated donor HCT, and is even more effective when combined with 1 or 2 immunosuppressive drugs. -
Rapid donor identification improves survival in high-risk first-remission patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia
March 2021John M. Pagel, MD, PhD, Megan Othus, PhD, et al – Barriers to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing and cytogenetic testing can significantly impact the overall survival of patients newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In this landmark study, a concerted effort to address those issues and streamline the initiation of donor identification and referral for hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) consultation in early disease state led to a higher CR1 transplantation rate and improved 2-year overall survival.
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Further investigation needed on the effect of cryopreserved allogeneic HCT outcomes
January 2021Hsu J, et. al., Blood—Researchers presented data at the 62nd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition on the impact of using fresh versus cryopreserved allogeneic bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) grafts on patient allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (alloHCT) outcomes. -
Age not a barrier for successful HCT for AML
December 2020Maakaron J, et al., ASH abstract poster presentation, December 2020—The CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®) presented their study results suggesting that efforts should focus on minimizing residual disease and better donor selection as age alone is not a barrier to successful hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in CR1 and should not exclude patients from HCT. -
MMUD HCT using PTCY and Bone Marrow is safe and effective, expanding access for diverse populations
December 2020Shaw B, et al., ASH oral abstract presentation, December 2020—The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match® performed a prospective phase II study that highlighted how hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) with a mismatched unrelated donor (MMUD) using post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy), sirolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was effective and expanded access to for ethnically diverse patients. -
Improving OS and DFS through selective HLA-mismatching in haploidentical related donor HCT
December 2020Fuchs E., et al., ASH abstract poster presentation, December 2020—When there is more than one potential haploidentical donor available, selection based on HLA considerations may improve disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). This is according to CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®) research presented at the 62nd ASH Annual Meeting.
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Novel cytogenetic-based risk scores predict HCT outcomes for patients with CLL
September 2019Kim HT, et al., Clin Cancer Res – Researchers have developed a prognostic model for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) on the probable outcomes of undergoing reduced-intensity hema-topoietic cell transplantation (HCT).
The model incorporates disease status, comorbidity index, lymphocyte count, and white blood cell count at HCT, plus cytogenetic assessments of del(17p) and karotypic abnormalities to stratify patients into four risk groups.
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Are outcomes comparable by age in MAC vs. RIC transplantation for patients with AML in CR2?
September 2019Gileese MH, et al., Leukemia – In patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transplanted in second complete remission (CR2), strength of the conditioning regimen — myeloablative (MAC) vs. reduced intensity (RIC) — had no significant difference on transplant outcomes, with the exception of non-relapse mortality, which was significantly higher after MAC transplantation in patients 50 years and older. -
Updated evidence-based guidelines for optimal selection of unrelated donors and cord blood units for HCT
September 2019Dehn J, et al., Blood – A panel of immunogeneticists and other experts in the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has published updated evidence-based guidelines for the optimal selection of unrelated donors and cord blood units used for transplants.
The updated guidelines make recommendations for both HLA and non-HLA factors to consider in graft selection, including donor availability, donor age, patient sensitivity to HLA antigens, natural killer (NK) cell alloreactivity, and minimum total nucleated cell doses and CD34+ cell doses for cord blood units.
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Allogeneic HCT safe for patients with HIV
August 2019Ambinder RF, et al., Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A phase II multi-center study of 17 patients with HIV has shown that hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can be a safe and effective treatment for HIV-positive patients, with a one-year overall survival of 59% and no incidence of 100-day non-relapse mortality (NRM). In patients who achieved complete chimerism, cell-associated HIV DNA and inducible infectious virus in the blood were not detectable. -
Comparable long-term outcomes in matched unrelated and sibling donor HCT in older patients with AML
August 2019Shimoni A, et al., Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – In an analysis of 1134 patients age 50 or older with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), two-year hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) survivors experienced comparable 10-year leukemia-free survival (LFS) and overall survival (OS) with matched sibling or unre-lated donors.
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Pre-transplant blinatumomab reduces MRD, time to HCT for pediatric patients with B-ALL
August 2019Keating AK, et al., Blood Advances – In this study of 15 pediatric patients age 0 to 21 years with relapsed or refractory B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and persistent minimal residual disease (MRD), researchers found that pre-transplant blinatumomab reduced MRD to undetectable levels, reduced time to transplant, and resulted in one-year overall survival of 93.3%, with no transplant-related mortality in the first 100 days.
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Shorter response duration and survival after each treatment relapse in MCL
July 2019Kumar A, et al., Blood Cancer Journal – As survival of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) continues to improve, patients are increasingly being treated with multiple regimens. However, this retrospective study of 404 consecutive patients with MCL treated between 2000 and 2014 shows that with each additional line of therapy, a progressive shortening in response duration occurs. -
Haploidentical HCT is viable alternative to matched sibling HCT in patients with AML in CR1
July 2019Rashidi A, et al., Blood Advances – This large-scale retrospective study compared outcomes of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1) undergoing haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) (n=336) versus 869 patients who underwent matched sibling donor (MSD) HCT. Results indicate that both cohorts had comparable overall survival, leukemia-free survival, non-relapse mortality, relapse, and grade II-IV acute GVHD. -
Gait speed can predict survival, hospital use in older patients with blood cancers
July 2019Liu MA, et al., Blood – Researchers assessing gait speed and grip strength in 314 patients aged 75 and older with MDS/leukemia, myeloma, or lymphoma found that a decrease in gait speed was significantly associated with higher mortality, increased unplanned hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits. A decrease in grip strength was associated with significantly worse survival, but not hospital or ED use. -
Does age at time of HCT for patients with sickle cell disease impact outcomes?
June 2019Cappelli B, et al. Haematologica – The youngest of three age-based patient cohorts (age 0-5 years) in a study of 736 patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) undergoing HLA-identical sibling hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) experienced 4-year event-free survival of 93%, results the researchers characterized as “excellent.”
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Using molecular data and MRD status improves HCT survival estimates for adults with AML
June 2019Kongtim P, et al., J Clin Oncol – By analyzing outcomes of 1414 consecutively treated adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), researchers have developed a new AML-specific Disease Risk Group (AML-DRG) risk stratification scoring system using molecular data and minimal residual disease (MRD) status that can improve pre-transplant survival estimates. -
Better long-term outcomes with allo-HCT compared to chemotherapy in older patients with AML in CR1
June 2019Ustun C, et al., Leukemia – In an alliance study of patients with AML, age 60-75 in CR1 (n=431), results indicate superior long-term outcomes with allogeneic HCT compared to a similar patient cohort treated on prospective National Clinical Trials Network induction and non-transplantation chemotherapy consolidation trials (n=211). -
Geriatric impairments in cancer patients affect caregiver health, QOL
May 2019Kehoe LA, et al., J Am Geriatr Soc – A study of 541 patients age 70 and older with advanced cancer has shown a significant association between the number of patient geriatric assessment (GA) impairments and poorer emotional health and quality of life (QOL) in caregivers. The researchers conclude that clinicians should address caregiver needs when patients have a high number of GA impairments.
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New clinical practice guidelines for treating multiple myeloma
May 2019Mikhael J, et al., J Clin Oncol – A panel of experts convened by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Cancer Care Ontario examined 124 published studies identified through a literature search on treating multiple myeloma to develop consensus, evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of patients who are transplant eligible and those who are ineligible and for patients with relapsed or refractory disease.
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Sequential high-dose chemotherapy improves outcomes in adult AML
May 2019Bassan R, et al. Blood Advances – Sequential high-dose (sHD) chemotherapy yielded a significantly better early induction response and survival than standard-intensity idarubicin-cytarabine-etoposide (ICE) chemo-therapy, according to results of a randomized study of 574 adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In patients aged 60 years and less with de novo AML, sHD chemotherapy also improved overall/relapse-free survival.
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Evaluation of new GVHD prevention regimens shows promising results
April 2019Bolaños-Meade J, et al., The Lancet Haematology – In a prospective, phase II trial, researchers found that tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, with post-hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) cyclophosphamide (TMMCy) produced the best GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) for patients who received an allogeneic HCT when compared to the current standard of care.
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New scoring system offers HCT risk stratification for patients with myelofibrosis
April 2019Gagelmann N, et al., Blood Journal – Researchers have developed a myelofibrosis transplant scoring system (MTSS) that can be predictive of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes of patients with primary and post-essential thrombocythemia/polycythemia vera myelofibrosis. The MTSS can help determine if a patient is a good candidate for HCT and provide insight for future care.
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Low-grade aGVHD positively affects OS for patients with early disease stage ALL
April 2019Yeshurun M, et al., Blood Advances – Development of low-grade acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) lowers relapse risk and positively affects overall survival (OS) for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in complete remission one and two). That’s the conclusion of researchers who aimed to better understand the graft-versus-leukemia effect in patients with ALL, and how disease stage and severity of GVHD impacts hematopoietic cell transplant outcomes.
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Review: Scientific advances in myelodysplastic syndromes
March 2019Löwenberg B, Blood Journal – A series of review articles in the Blood Journal provides a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of MDS, highlighting advances in biological and clinical science.
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Steroid-free treatment rivals prednisone as initial GVHD therapy
March 2019Pidala JA, et al., Bio Blood Marrow Transplant – Examining the feasibility of clinical- and biomarker-based risk-adapted therapy for acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a recent phase II trial revealed similar complete response/partial response rates for sirolimus compared to current standard of care, prednisone.
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MRD-negative status prognostic for PFS and OS for patients with multiple myeloma
March 2019Hahn TE, et al., Bio Blood Marrow Transplant – Researchers found that minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative status may be a valuable addition with other clinical factors in determining further therapy needs for patients with multiple myeloma (MM). It can be prognostic for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with MM. -
Neurocognition stabilizes after HCT for patients for sickle cell disease-induced cognitive decline
February 2019In addition to the risk of stroke and cognitive decline, children with sickle cell disease (SCD) may lose approximately one IQ point per year on a full scale IQ (FSIQ) test. For the first time, researchers report stabilization of IQ and central nervous system (CNS) outcomes after unrelated allogeneic hematopoie
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Geriatric assessment and targeted interventions recommended for older patients undergoing allogeneic HCT
February 2019With an increasing number of older patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), researchers studied the incidence and impact of transplant-related geriatric syndromes. The results suggest that older patients may benefit from geriatric assessment and targeted interventions aimed at i
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Event-free survival improved with midostaurin for patients with FLT3-ITD-mutated AML
February 2019The addition of the multi-targeted kinase inhibitor, midostaurin, to chemotherapy followed by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) significantly improved event-free survival (EFS) for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with FLT 3 internal tandem duplication (ITD). That’s according to the
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Continued vigilance needed to prevent infections for HCT recipients
January 2019A recent study found late fatal infections (LFI) contributed to one-third of the deaths of both adult and pediatric patients who had survived more than 2 years after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The results highlight the importance of ongoing monitoring and preventive measures for infect
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How I treat Philadelphia chromosome positive ALL
January 2019The introduction of effective novel agents is swiftly changing management of patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL). In this edition of the “How I treat…” series in the Blood Journal , the author uses case studies to address questions about Ph+ ALL treatment deci
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Timing of molecular testing may enhance treatment decisions for patients with AML
January 2019For patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the timing of molecular testing can enhance patient management decisions and clinical trials recommendations. Researchers highlighted evidence that supports molecular testing at diagnosis, complete remission and relapse. At diagnosis, gene panel sequencing
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Allogeneic HCT improves 5-year survival for patients over 60 with AML in CR1
December 2018Devillier R et al. ASH Annual Meeting 2018 - Results from a recent multicenter analysis support hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) as a curative option for patients over 60 with acute myeloid leukemia. Researchers found that HCT improved relapse-free survival and overall survival for older patients at 5 years when compared with patients who did not undergo HCT. (Devillier R et al. 2018 ASH Annual Meeting)
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Adding genomic data to new prognostic model improves predictors of post-HCT outcomes in patients with MDS
December 2018Nazha A, et al. ASH Annual Meeting 2018 - Researchers have developed a new personalized hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes prediction model for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes that incorporates both genomic and clinical data. The new genomic-clinical model can help physicians better identify patients who may or may not benefit from HCT.
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Survival has significantly improved in recent years for patients with AML undergoing HCT
December 2018Canaani J, et al. Journal of Internal Medicine - Researchers analyzed outcomes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia who underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in the past 20 years. Patients who underwent HCT in more recent years experienced significantly improved overall survival and decreased non-relapse mortality. -
Geriatric assessment helps inform decision making and management for older adults with AML
November 2018Loh KP and Klepin HD. Blood Advances - The presenters of this Blood Advances Talk recommend geriatric assessment for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They reason that adults of the same age can vary based on underlying health status and physiologic reserve, therefore, decision making and management cannot be optimized using strategies based on chronologic age.
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Donor-derived LMP-Ts are a safe adjuvant therapy after allo HCT for EBV-associated lymphomas
November 2018McLaughlin LP, et al. Blood - Autologous T cells targeting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane proteins (LMPs) have been shown safe and effective for the treatment of patients with type II latency EBV-associated lymphomas for whom standard therapies have failed. However, up until now, the safety and efficacy of this treatment had not been established for patients who have received an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT).
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Emerging prognostic factors identify older adults with high-risk AML likely to benefit from HCT
November 2018Veltri L, et al. Bio Blood Marrow Transplant - In a recent study, researchers analyzed hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) outcomes in 185 patients (age >65) with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and found the strongest independent risk factor for overall survival (OS) and relapse was associated with achievement of measurable residual disease negative status prior to HCT. Additional prognostic factors identified in this study could help identify patients most likely to benefit from HCT treatment.
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Are the presence of post-HCT mutations in patients with MDS associated with higher risk of disease progression?
October 2018Duncavage EJ, et al. N Engl J Med. – An exploratory study of 90 adults with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) evaluated the association of mutations detected after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) with disease progression and survival.
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How I Treat Older Adults with Sickle Cell Disease
October 2018Thein SL and Howard J., Blood Journal – In this installment of the “How I treat…” series, the authors highlight that for patients with sickle cell disease, survival has significantly improved. Consequently, adults face new long-term risks of their disease as well as age-related conditions.
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Residual disease assessment using next gen-sequencing is predictive of outcomes for patients with AML
October 2018Felicitas T., et al. Blood Journal – In this study, researchers found that next-generation sequencing (NGS) molecular measurable residual disease (MRD) assessment in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is highly predictive of relapse and survival outcomes when tested in complete remission (CR) before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).
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Prognostic factors identified for MDS patients most likely to benefit from induction chemotherapy after HMA failure
September 2018Researchers identified several prognostic factors for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who would most benefit from induction chemotherapies as a bridge to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) after hypomethylating agent (HMA) failure. (Ball B, et al. Blood Advances)
Learn which prognostic factors led to higher response rates and overall survival
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Allogeneic HCT should be considered as first-line treatment for SAA
September 2018Researchers suggest the initial treatment guidelines for patients newly diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) should be revised. They recommend allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) as the first-line therapy and HLA typing for all newly diagnosed patients prior to starting treatment. (Georges GE, et al. Blood Advances)
Learn why the researchers are recommending the new first-line treatment strategy
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Using quality of life to inform treatment decisions for older patients with cancer
September 2018A Task Force of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology recommends all health care professionals involved in the care of older patients with cancer should place a greater focus on quality of life (QOL), and treatment decisions should not be made based on chronological age alone. (Scotté F, et al. Annals of Oncology)
Discover additional QOL recommendations and guidance from the task force
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Experts Highlight Latest Advances in Immunotherapies for Hematologic Diseases
July 2018Paczesny S, et al. Blood – This series in the journal Blood outlines both current obstacles and new opportunities for the future on a selection of emerging immunotherapies now available to patients with hematologic diseases. -
Risk-Adapted Treatment Strategies for Older Patients with AML
July 2018Arellano M, et al. Cancer – In this review, the authors argue that the current treatment algorithm for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ─ induction, followed by consolidation (with or without transplantation) versus hospice ─ is no longer sufficient. -
Ruxolitinib Can Prevent Acute GVHD in Patients with Myelofibrosis
July 2018Kröger N, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Ruxolitinib is approved for treating myelofibrosis and also has shown efficacy in treating steroid-resistant acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). -
Minimal Residual Disease Identifies Patients Who May Benefit from HCT in First Complete Remission
June 2018Freeman SD, et al. J Clin Oncol – A large-scale, long-term study of adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has shown that measurable or minimal residual disease (MRD) status can be used for risk stratification to determine which patients may benefit from hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Consensus Statement on HCT Late Effects Screening Guidelines in Hemoglobinopathies
June 2018Shenoy S, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – An international panel of HCT experts has updated late effects screening guidelines for pediatric transplantation for hemoglobinopathies, focusing on sickle cell disease and thalassemia. -
Allogeneic HCT is Feasible for Patients Aged ≥70 Years
June 2018Al Malki MM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Patients aged 70 years and older undergoing reduced-intensity allogeneic HCT can achieve 2-year overall survival rates of 68%. -
New Prognostic System for Patients with Relapsed Follicular Lymphoma
May 2018Sureda A, et al. Cancer – A large-scale, long-term study of patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma (FL) has identified a new prognostic scoring system to assess risks of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Results have shown that HCT can lead to a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 61% and a progression-free survival of 52%. -
Experts Debate Allo-HCT for Patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma Relapsing After Auto-HCT
May 2018Peggs KS and Moscowitz CH. Blood Advances – In a Point-Counterpoint feature in Blood Advances, two prominent hematologists, Drs. Karl S. Peggs and Craig H. Moscowitz, debate “Should all patients with Hodgkin lymphoma who relapse after autologous HCT be considered for allogeneic HCT?” -
Study Compares 5-Year Outcomes of Auto- vs. Allo-HCT in Patients with High-Risk FL
May 2018Smith SM, et al. Cancer – Patients with high-risk follicular lymphoma (FL), defined as relapse or progression within 2 years of frontline chemoimmunotherapy, can achieve a 5-year OS of 70% after autologous HCT. -
Delayed Auto-HCT Can Lead to Inferior Survival Rates in Patients with MM
May 2018Kansagra A, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who undergo stem cell collection in preparation for an autologous HCT have lower outcomes if they delay transplant and are unable to receive their stem cells due to disease relapse. -
Study Shows Age Doesn't Affect Survival in HCT for NHL
April 2018Shah NN, et al. Blood Advances – Results from a study of 1,629 older adults show that older age per se should not make a patient ineligible for an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). -
Spotlight on Novel Therapies to Improve Post-HCT Graft-Versus-Leukemia Effects
April 2018Zeiser R, et al. Blood – The latest research in cellular therapies, antibody-based treatments, and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-based approaches to enhance GVL effects are outlined in articles published in a special edition of Blood. -
Sorafenib Improves HCT Outcomes in Patients with FLT3-ITD AML
April 2018Xuan L, et al. Cancer – Three-year relapse rates were cut in half when allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) patients with FLT3‐ITD acute myeloid leukemia (AML) received pre-transplant sorafenib, according to results of a study of 144 patients. -
Second HCT Effective for Subset of Relapsing Children with Acute Leukemia
April 2018Yaniv I, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – This multi-center study of 373 children who relapsed after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) revealed several prognostic factors predicting overall survival and leukemia-free survival in a subset of these patients. -
HCT Can Be an Effective Treatment for Young Adults with Immune Deficiencies
April 2018Fox TA, et al. Blood – Young adults with primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can achieve a 3-year overall survival greater than 80%, according to a study of 29 consecutive young adults transplanted at two U.K. hospitals. -
Frailty Assessments Can Inform Treatment Decisions in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies
March 2018Abel GA, et al. Blood – In this review, the authors outline how hematologists can make better treatment recommendations for their patients by incorporating several easy-to-use frailty assessment tools into their practice. -
HCT and Neurocognitive Dysfunction: Recognizing Risk Factors and Developing Treatments
March 2018Buchbinder D, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Neurocognitive dysfunction, including symptoms such as memory impairment, decreased concentration, and difficulty in performing multiple tasks simultaneously, can significantly affect hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) patients’ quality of life, and is a major cause of post-transplant morbidity and mortality. -
Lifestyle Modifications Reduce Risk of Heart Disease after HCT
March 2018Leger KJ, et al. Cancer – Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) survivors are at a higher risk than the general population for developing a number of adverse health issues, including heart disease. -
Study Shows Age Doesn't Affect Survival Outcomes in Patients with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Who Undergo Allogeneic HCT
February 2018Results from a retrospective study presented at the 2018 BMT Tandem Meetings dispute age as a limiting factor to transplant eligibility, showing no differences in 4-year outcomes for patients older or younger than age 65.
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Risk-Stratification Tools for Treating Patients with AML in CR1
February 2018Menghrajani KN, et al. Blood Advances – This podcast discusses the state-of-the-art tools available to physicians to risk-stratify patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1). -
Auto-HCT Improves Survival in Patients with FL and Early Therapy Failure
February 2018Casulo C, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) experiencing therapy failure within 2 years of frontline chemotherapy had better outcomes with an autologous HCT (auto-HCT) compared to a matched cohort of patients who did not undergo auto-HCT. -
Ethical Challenges in HCT for Sickle Cell Disease
February 2018Nickel RS, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – People with sickle cell disease (SCD) experience a shortened life expectancy, painful and debilitating symptoms, and a lowered quality of life. Thus, clinicians face ethical dilemmas when counseling their patients with SCD on whether to pursue HCT, which is currently the only potential cure for the disease, but which comes with a risk of mortality. -
Long-Term Outcomes Show Effectiveness of Reduced-Intensity HCT in MCL
February 2018Robinson SP, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have relapsed after an autologous transplant generally have a poor prognosis. Further treatment options include a second autologous transplant, an allogeneic transplant, or various alternative treatment strategies including novel agents. -
New Scoring Systems for Myelofibrosis Identify Risk Categories Predicting Survival
January 2018Guglielmelli P, et al. J Clin Oncol – Researchers analyzed 805 patients age ≤70 years with primary myelofibrosis to determine the variables predictive of overall survival (OS), then incorporated them into two prognostic scoring systems, one based on clinical and genetic data (MIPSS70) and the other with clinical and genetic data plus cytogenetic information (MIPSS70-plus). -
Study Identifies Key Factors Influencing the Decision to Pursue HCT for Sickle Cell Disease
January 2018Khemani K, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Currently, hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) is the only treatment for sickle cell disease (SCD) with a curative intent. -
Personalized HCT Prognostic Risk Scores Identified for Children with Acute Leukemias
January 2018Bitan M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Researchers analyzed outcomes of children with acute myeloid (AML, n=790) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL, n=1,096) who survived for at least 1 year in remission after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) have developed personalized long-term prognostic scoring systems for these patients. -
Allo-HCT Can Be an Effective Salvage Therapy for Multiple Myeloma
January 2018Montefusco V, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – In this study of 71 patients with multiple myeloma undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), 5-year overall survival (OS) was 60%, with better outcomes in patients ≤55 years and in those transplanted with chemosensitive disease. -
Survivorship Care Plans for HCT Recipients Reduce Cancer Treatment Distress
December 2017Majhail NS, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2017 – According to results of a randomized, multicenter study, hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) patients receiving post-transplant survivorship care plans (SCPs) had significantly lower levels of cancer treatment distress, compared to HCT recipients receiving routine post-transplant care. -
HCT Significantly Improves Quality of Life in Children with Sickle Cell Disease
December 2017Bernaudin F, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2017 – Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) have significantly better physical health and school functioning after transplantation than do those receiving chronic transfusion, according to results of a donor/no donor study of 67 patients with SCD. -
Early Detection of WT1 Minimal Residual Disease Predicts Outcomes in AML
December 2017Lambert J, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2017 – Using Wilms’ tumor gene (WT1) expression as a marker for minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a powerful prognostic factor in treatment selection, according to a study of 713 patients with AML. -
Molecular MRD Detection by NGS Predicts Relapse and Survival in Adults with AML
December 2017Jongen-Lavrencic M, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2017 – A study of 482 adults with newly diagnosed AML has demonstrated that prospective molecular minimal residual disease (MRD) detection by next-generation sequencing (NGS) of residual leukemia defined by non-DTA mutations in complete remission (CR) is an independent predictor for relapse and survival. -
Lower Relapse and Improved Survival with Mild Acute GVHD after HCT for ALL
December 2017Yeshurun M, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2017 – A large-scale multicenter study of pediatric and adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has confirmed that HCT imparts a potent graft-versus-leukemia effect in ALL with improved survival and lower relapse in patients who experience grade I-II acute GVHD. -
New Clinical Recommendations on the Role of HCT in Mature T Cell and NK/T Cell Lymphomas
December 2017Kharfan-Dabaja MA, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – New recommendations on the role of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for mature T cell and natural killer (NK)/T cell lymphomas outline clinical practice algorithms for 14 histological subtypes. -
Review: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies
December 2017Kirtane K, et al. Blood – This review focuses on a critical appraisal of the empirical research on racial and ethnic disparities in incidence, survival, outcomes, and enrollment in clinical trials. Reviewers discuss in detail four potential causes for disparities: biologic factors, health behaviors, individual factors, and structural barriers. -
New Composite Model Predicts Mortality Risk in AML
December 2017Sorror ML, et al. JAMA Oncol – Researchers have developed and validated a novel, risk-stratifying acute myeloid leukemia (AML) composite model (CM) incorporating comorbidities, age, and cytogenetic and molecular risk factors to predict mortality after initial therapy, which can guide clinicians in determining appropriate therapies for their patients with AML. -
Measuring Frailty Can Improve Existing Prognostic Tools
December 2017Hegde A, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Because frailty is prevalent in many patients pre- and post-transplant and is associated with age-independent adverse transplant outcomes, the authors of this review recommend incorporating a frailty assessment to optimize the predictive ability of existing pre-transplant assessment (PTA) tools across all age groups and particularly in elderly individuals. -
Prognostic Factors Identified for Optimal HCT Outcomes in Adults with FA
December 2017Bierings M, et al. Brit J Haematol – In this multicenter, retrospective study of adults with Fanconi anemia (FA) undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) between 1991 and 2014, researchers found that best outcomes were in patients who received bone marrow from an identical sibling with fludarabine in the conditioning regimen and transplanted after the year 2000. -
Ibrutinib Leads to Durable Responses in Steroid-Resistant Chronic GVHD
November 2017Miklos D, et al. Blood – Using the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib to treat steroid-resistant chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) can result in overall response rates of 67%, according to results of a multicenter, open-label phase 2 study of 42 transplant recipients. -
Maintenance with Rituximab Prolongs Survival after Auto-HCT for Mantle Cell Lymphoma
November 2017Le Gouill S, et al. N Engl J Med – Rituximab maintenance therapy after autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) significantly prolonged event-free survival, progression-free survival, and overall survival in patients with mantle cell lymphoma, according to a phase III randomized study of 299 patients <66 years old. -
Report: Strategies for Overcoming Neurocognitive Dysfunction in HCT Recipients
November 2017Kelly DL, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – An international panel of experts has issued a report on neurocognitive dysfunction after HCT to help clinicians understand the scope of this health-related problem, highlight its impact on the well-being of survivors, and help determine factors that may improve identification of patients at risk for declines in cognitive functioning after HCT. -
Review: Emerging Therapeutics to Treat Chronic GVHD
November 2017Betts BC, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Preclinical and clinical studies have significantly advanced the understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), resulting in new immunomodulatory agents targeting innate immunity, early T-cell activation and signaling, T-cell migration, regulatory T cells, and B cell dysregulation. -
The Current Therapeutic Landscape of FLT3 Inhibitors
November 2017Levis M. Blood Advances – In this 15-minute audio presentation, Dr. Mark Levis of Johns Hopkins University reviews the current clinical status of the FLT3 inhibitors midostaurin, quizartinib, gilteritinib, sorafenib, and crenolanib in treating patients with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia. -
Auto-HCT Can Be Safe for Myeloma Patients with Renal Insufficiency
November 2017Mahindra A, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – In this study, researchers analyzed autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes in 1,492 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and renal insufficiency (RI). -
Case Studies Outline Strategies for Long-Term Monitoring of Adult HCT Survivors
October 2017Bhatia S, et al. Blood – Using 4 case studies of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients, the authors of this “How I treat …” series in the journal Blood illustrate the challenges involved in providing long-term care for HCT survivors, and then propose several “best practice” models for risk-based screening. -
Intermediate-Risk ‘Triple-Negative’ AML at CR1: Improved Outcomes with HCT
October 2017Heidrich K, et al. Ann Oncol – For patients with intermediate-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) without FLT3-ITD, biallelic CEBPA, and NPM1 mutations (triple-negative AML) who achieve complete remission, hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) significantly improved treatment outcomes. -
Palliative Care Leads to Improvements in Post-HCT Depression and PTSD
October 2017El-Jawahri A, et al. J Clin Oncol – Integrating palliative care with hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can improve depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at 6 months post-transplant according to a randomized study of 160 transplant recipients. -
Haploidentical HCT is Safe and Effective for Older Patients with AML/MDS
October 2017Ciurea SO, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is an appropriate therapy for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and can result in a 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 74% in selected patients. -
New Patient Care Coordination Model Addresses Complexities of HCT Therapy
September 2017Khera N, et al. Blood Advances – A multi-disciplinary team has proposed a care coordination framework to deliver a continuum of care to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) patients. -
Disease Risk Index is Important Prognostic Factor for Older HCT Patients
September 2017He F, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A study of 196 patients age 60-75 years with hematologic malignancies undergoing reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has found that the Disease Risk Index (DRI) score is a significant prognostic factor for post-transplant relapse, treatment failure and mortality. -
Vorinostat Can Lead to Lower Incidence of Acute GVHD
September 2017Choi SW, et al. Blood – Adding vorinostat to a standard pre-transplant graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis can significantly lower the incidence of acute GVHD, according to results of a prospective, phase II study. -
Study Identifies Optimal Therapies for Relapsed Pediatric AML
September 2017Karlsson L, et al. Br J Haematol – A large-scale study of children with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has found that intensive re-induction therapy followed by hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in second complete remission (CR2) is the best available treatment for the majority of these patients. -
Expert Panel Issues Practical “How To” Guide on Optimal Cord Blood Transplantation
August 2017Barker JN, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Two leading transplant organizations have joined together to publish a report on optimal practices in cord blood transplantation (CBT), including a state-of-the-art clinical “how to” guide on CBT. -
Older Patients with MDS: Uncovering Barriers to Allogeneic HCT
August 2017Getta BM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Only one-third of all patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) referred to an academic center undergo hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), according to a study of 362 patients with MDS treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. -
Improved Outcomes and Increased Use of HCT in Patients ≥70 Years
August 2017Muffly L, et al. Blood – Overall and progression-free survival after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients ≥70 years with hematologic malignancies increased significantly between 2000 and 2013, according to a multi-center study. -
Cyclophosphamide Can Lower GVHD Rates in Patients with MM
August 2017Ghosh N, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) using post-transplant cyclophosphamide can be safely performed in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), resulting in low rates of both acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease and rates of non-relapse mortality. -
90% Survival, Low GVHD at Two Years after Alternative Donor HCT for SCD
August 2017Gilman AL, et al. Blood Advances – A study of patients with symptomatic sickle cell disease (SCD) who underwent CD34+ cell-selected, T-cell–depleted peripheral blood HCT from a mismatched family member or unrelated donor has resulted in a 2-year overall survival rate of 90%. -
Immunoglobulin Significantly Reduces Chronic GVHD Rates
July 2017Finke J, et al. Lancet Haematol – Anti-human-T-lymphocyte immunoglobulin (ATLG) significantly lowers chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) rates and reduces risks associated with long-term immune suppression, according to a long-term randomized study of 201 patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Patients with MDS Responding to HMAs Have Better HCT Outcomes
July 2017Festuccia M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who undergo hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) while still responding to hypomethylating agents (HMAs) have lower rates of post-HCT relapse, according to a study of 125 patients with MDS. -
Comorbidity Scores are Prognostic of Overall Survival in Relapsed/Refractory AML
July 2017Middeke JM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Comorbidity evaluations can provide clinically useful prognostic information at the time of diagnosis of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to results of a phase II trial. -
Which Prognostic Factors Guide HCT Eligibility for Patients with Myelofibrosis?
June 2017Jain T, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - Authors discuss the prognostic factors that can guide clinicians to “select the right patients at the right time in their disease course to gain the most benefit from transplant.” -
Recent HCT Survival Improvements Reported for Hodgkin Lymphoma
June 2017Hegerova L, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – This study of 72 patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has shown that allogeneic HCT outcomes have improved over time, primarily due to reductions in non-relapse mortality and decreased early relapse. -
30% of Very Young HCT Recipients Experience One or More Late Effects
June 2017Vrooman LM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - This multi-center study showed that children under 3 years old who undergo HCT are at high risk for late effects. After 1 year, 30% had developed 1 or more organ toxicity or transplant-related complication. -
Study Finds Disparity in HCT Utilization for Hispanics with Multiple Myeloma
June 2017Schriber JR, et al. Cancer – A study of 28,450 patients who underwent autologous HCT for multiple myeloma found that the rate of transplant utilization in the U.S. was significantly lower for Hispanic patients compared to non-Hispanic whites. The analysis also found that race/ethnicity did not affect post-transplant outcomes. -
New Pre-HCT Counseling Recommendations to Preserve Fertility
May 2017Dalle J-H, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – In this report, a panel of transplant experts discuss state-of-the-art fertility preservation options available to adolescents and young adults who are considering hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Molecular Genetics Can Predict HCT Outcomes in Myelofibrosis
May 2017Kröger N, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Three frequently mutated genes in patients with myelofibrosis ─ CALR, IDH2, and ASXL1 ─ can predict allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes independently from known disease-related clinical risk factors. -
Cytogenetic Risk Prognostic of HCT Outcomes in Older Patients with AML in CR2
May 2017Michelis FV, et al. Cancer – Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a curative treatment option for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in second complete remission (CR2), particularly for those with favorable or intermediate cytogenetic risk, according to researchers who studied 169 transplants at 78 centers. -
Autologous HCT Plus RVD Therapy May Be Best for Patients with MM
May 2017Attal M, et al. N Engl J Med – A randomized trial of 700 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has found that median progression-free survival is significantly longer in patients who underwent autologous HCT after combination therapy with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (RVD) than in patients who received RVD alone: 50 months vs. 36 months, respectively (p<0.001). -
Five-Year Disease-Free Survival Greater Than 80% with Auto-HCT for Hodgkin and DLBC Lymphoma
April 2017Myers R, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant –In this multi-center study of 1,617 patients who survived for at least two years following autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT) for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) was >80%. -
MRD is a ‘Powerful Predictor for Survival’ in Childhood ALL
April 2017Bader P, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Measuring pre- and post-transplant minimal residual disease (MRD) “is a powerful predictor for survival” in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to a multi-center study of 648 patients. -
Successful Post-HCT Immune Suppression Discontinuation Factors Identified
April 2017Pidala J, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A multi-center study of 827 hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients has identified the factors that predict successful post-HCT immune suppression discontinuation (ISD). -
Early Auto-HCT Improves Survival in High-Risk FL Patients
April 2017Casulo C, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) experiencing therapy failure within 2 years of frontline rituximab-based therapy have better outcomes when they undergo autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) early (≤1 year from therapy failure), according to research results presented at the BMT Tandem Meetings. -
Allogeneic HCT is Feasible for Patients ≥70 Years
April 2017Sorror ML, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – New research presented at the BMT Tandem Meetings shows that patients aged 70 years and older can have comparable hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes to those of younger patients and that comorbidities and disease risks, not age, should be used to evaluate potential candidates. -
Updated Recommendations for Selecting HCT Candidates in Patients with MDS
March 2017de Witte T, et al. Blood –In this report from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), an international panel of experts present HCT treatment decision recommendations for patients with MDS. -
Updated ELN Recommendations on the Diagnosis and Management of AML in Adults
March 2017Döhner H, et al. Blood – The 2017 European LeukemiaNet (ELN) recommendations for diagnosis and management of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in adults includes updates based on several recent advances in AML, most notably advances in knowledge of the genomic landscape of the disease. -
Updated Guidelines Identify Factors in Selecting HCT Candidates in Patients with MDS
March 2017de Witte T, et al. Blood – In this report from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), an international panel of experts present treatment guidelines for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). -
Depression Prior to HCT is Prognostic of Lower Survival, Higher Acute GVHD
March 2017El-Jawahri A, et al. Cancer – Pre-transplant depression requiring treatment significantly affected post-allogenic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) outcomes, including lower overall survival (OS) and higher risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). -
Improved HCT Outcomes for Fit Patients with MDS/AML After Standard Conditioning
March 2017Scott BL, et al. J Clin Oncol – This randomized phase III trial of 272 adults with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) found that patients with hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) comorbidity index scores ≤4 and with <5% marrow myeloblasts had better relapse-free survival (RFS) after HCT with myeloablative conditioning (MAC), than after reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC). -
Genetic Alterations Predict HCT Outcomes in Patients with MDS
February 2017Lindsley RC, et al. N Engl J Med – TP53 mutations are the most important prognostic indicator in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), independent of clinical factors, according to a multi-center study analyzing more than 1,500 transplants. -
Case Study Review: How I Treat Severe Aplastic Anemia
February 2017Bacigalupo A. Blood – In this installment of the “How I treat …” series in Blood, the author outlines his treatment algorithm for patients with severe aplastic anemia, using 2 case studies to illustrate the benefits and limitations of immunnosupressive therapy (IST) and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Multi-Center Study Identifies Biomarkers Associated with HCT Outcomes
February 2017Zaid MA, et al. Blood – This prospective, multi-center study confirmed the correlation of plasma-derived proteins, previously assessed only in single-center cohorts, with the potential to improve diagnosis, assess risk and manage complications after allogeneic HCT. -
Review: New Targeted Therapies to Treat or Prevent Chronic GVHD
February 2017Cutler CS, et al. Blood – In this review, the authors summarize the current preclinical studies and early-phase clinical trial results on the following new chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) therapeutic techniques. Many of these new approaches target specific immunologic pathways now known to play a role in chronic GVHD. -
Emerging Trends in Managing FLT3-Mutated AML
January 2017Pratz KW, et al. Blood – In this installment of the “How I treat …” series in Blood, the authors present four clinical case studies of patients with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to illustrate their strategies to treat both newly diagnosed patients and those with relapsed or refractory disease. -
Large-Scale Study Shows Greater Than 90% Survival After HCT for Sickle Cell Disease
January 2017Gluckman E, et al. Blood – Researchers analyzing the outcomes of 1,000 patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) who underwent identical sibling hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) between 1986 and 2013 characterized the 5-year survival as “excellent” and concluded that their results “confirm this is an accepted treatment for severe SCD.” -
Results Show Non-Myeloablative Haploidentical Transplants Can Be Effective in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients
January 2017Klein OR, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – For pediatric and young adult patients who are ineligible for myeloablative transplant, non-myeloablative haploidentical bone marrow transplantation using post-transplant cyclophosphamide can be a safe and effective treatment, according to a single-center study of 40 transplant recipients. -
Report: Long-Term Follow Up Needed after HCT for CLL
January 2017van Gelder M, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Although allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only curative therapy for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a new study shows that HCT results in a higher mortality rate in transplant recipients compared to an age-, sex- and calendar year-matched general population. -
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Improves Post-HCT Outcomes in Patients with AML
December 2016Brunner AM, et al. Br J Haematol – In a single-center study of consecutive adults with FLT3 - internal tandem duplication (ITD) acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 29 patients transplanted in first complete remission (CR1) who received post-transplant sorafenib had significantly better outcomes than 55 patients in a control cohort. -
Reclassified “Low Risk” Patients with MDS Achieve 58% 3-Year OS after HCT
December 2016Robin M, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – An analysis of 246 myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients with low or intermediate-1 disease according to the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) found that the majority of these patients (76%) actually had intermediate or higher-risk disease according to the revised IPSS. -
New NIH Report: Recommended Follow-Up for Long-Term Survivors after HCT
December 2016Battiwalla M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – This report outlines the recommendations issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Late Effects Consensus Conference to plan the next phase of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) research “to ensure that no survivor is left behind.” -
No Benefit of Additional Treatment After Auto-HCT for Myeloma with Lenalidomide Maintenance
December 2016Stadtmauer E, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2016 – The addition of consolidation therapy or a second autologous transplant is not superior to a single autologous transplant followed by lenalidomide maintenance in the upfront treatment of multiple myeloma, according to research presented at the Late-Breaking Abstracts session at ASH. -
High-Risk Patients with AML Undergoing Early HCT Have Improved Outcomes
December 2016Pagel JM, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2016 – In newly diagnosed adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), early identification of high-risk cytogenetics and HLA testing with an organized effort to identify a suitable allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) donor can lead to a higher transplant rate and better transplant outcomes, according to research presented at ASH. -
Adults with ALL Experience No Benefit of Consolidation Chemotherapy Prior to HCT
December 2016Bejanyan N, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2016 – Consolidation chemotherapy does not benefit adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who have a readily available donor and who undergo myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in first complete remission (CR1), according to research presented at ASH. -
Adding Sirolimus to Standard GVHD Prophylaxis Significantly Reduces Acute GVHD
December 2016Sandmaier B, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2016 – Adding sirolimus to a standard graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and cyclosporine (CSP) can significantly reduce the risks of grades II-IV and III-IV acute GVHD and non-relapse mortality (NRM), according to results of a phase 3 multi-center randomized trial presented at ASH. -
Comparable HCT Survival and Incidence of Toxicity for Patients ≥60 Years
December 2016Shah GL, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2016 – Survival of patients ≥60 years undergoing ex vivo CD34+ selected reduced-intensity hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) was comparable to that of patients <60 years, according to research presented at ASH. -
Somatic Mutations Can Improve Transplant Prognostics in MDS
December 2016Rossi M, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2016 – In patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) evolving from MDS (MDS/AML), somatic mutation information can be combined with revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) risk categorizations to predict post-transplant relapse risk, according to research presented at ASH. -
Post-HCT Therapies May Improve Outcomes for Patients with High-Risk Myeloma
November 2016Scott EC, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Therapies using bortezomib and immunomodulatory agents after autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for patients with high-risk (HR) multiple myeloma appears to contribute to improved HCT outcomes, with 3-year overall survival (OS) of 81%. -
Careful Selection of Older Patients with MDS Can Improve HCT Outcomes
November 2016Heidenreich S, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Researchers analyzing 313 patients over age 70 (median age 72 years) whose transplant outcomes were reported to the registry of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) found that careful selection of patients can significantly improve hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes. -
ASBMT Report: The Role of Allogeneic Transplant for CLL
November 2016Kharfan-Dabaja MA, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Although allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is currently relegated to later stages of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), novel targeted therapies have altered clinical decision-making for the disease. -
Alternative Donor HCT Better than Immunosuppressive Therapy in Pediatric SAA
November 2016Choi YB, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – This retrospective single-center study of children and adolescents with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) found that upfront hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) using alternative donors resulted in significantly better outcomes compared to both salvage HCT and upfront immunosuppressive treatment (IST). -
Somatic Mutations Improve Transplant Prognostics in MDS
November 2016Della Porta MG, et al. J Clin Oncol – In a study of 401 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) evolving from MDS (MDS/AML), researchers found that ASXL1, RUNX1, and TP53 mutations were independent predictors of higher rates of relapse and lower overall survival (p values <0.001 and p=0.017, respectively) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in both patients with MDS and MDS/AML. -
Is Cord Blood the Best Alternative Graft Source for Patients with Minimal Residual Disease?
October 2016Milano F, et al. N Engl J Med – A retrospective study of 582 patients with acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes has shown that umbilical cord blood may be a superior graft choice for the approximately 70% of patients who lack an HLA-matched related donor, especially if they are minimal residual disease positive (MRD+). -
One-Year OS of 86% Achieved with Unrelated Donor HCT for Children with SCD
October 2016Shenoy S, et al Blood – This multi-center phase II trial conducted by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) analyzed outcomes of 29 children (age range 6-19 years) with sickle cell disease (SCD) who underwent reduced-intensity conditioning unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) between 2008 and 2014. -
Evidence-Based Screening and Prevention Recommendations for Post-Transplant MetS
October 2016DeFilipp Z, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Long-term hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients have a substantial risk (prevalence rates of 31-49% have been reported in the literature) of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) and therefore a concurrent higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and all-cause mortality. -
MRD-Negativity in Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell ALL Leads to Better HCT Outcomes
October 2016Jabbour E, et al. Cancer – A study of 78 patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) found that minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment is predictive of survival after salvage treatment and subsequent HCT. -
MRD Accurately Predicts Survival in Patients with CLL
October 2016Kovacs G, et al. J Clin Oncol – Minimal residual disease (MRD) quantification results in improved progression-free survival (PFS) prediction in patients who achieve partial response (PR) and those who achieve complete remission (CR) after completion of chemotherapy or immunotherapy to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to combined results from two phase III studies. -
Better 5-Year QOL after Marrow Transplant than after PBSC Transplant
September 2016Lee SJ, et al. JAMA Oncol – A secondary analysis of 195 recipients from the randomized, multi-center (n=551) Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network trial (BMT CTN 0201), found that bone marrow (BM) recipients experienced significantly better psychological well-being and less burdensome chronic GVHD symptoms five years after HCT than peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) recipients did. -
Pre-HCT Genetic Profiling Can Identify AML Patients at Increased Risk for Relapse
September 2016Luskin MR, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Researchers used next generation sequencing (NGS) of 26 genes and found mutations in TP53, WT1 and FLT3-ITD were associated with an increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapse after HCT (adjusted Hazard Ratio [aHR] 2.90, p=0.009; aHR 2.51, p=0.02; and aHR 1.83, p=0.07, respectively). -
TKIs Can Effectively Treat Post-Transplant Relapse Risk in Patients with Ph+ ALL
September 2016Lussana F, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Researchers analyzing prospective data from two consecutive clinical trials have demonstrated that patients with Philadelphia-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with measurable pre-transplant levels of minimal residual disease (MRD) have a significantly higher risk of relapse. -
Pre-Transplant Emotional Support Contributes to Longer Survival
September 2016Ehrlich KB, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Researchers have found that good pre-transplant emotional support predicts longer overall survival at 2 years. -
BMT CTN: Lessons Learned and Opportunities for the Future
August 2016Horowitz MM. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – This report on the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) highlights its success in planning, implementing, and completing clinical trials through a network of more than 120 centers to improve hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) practice and patient outcomes. -
Higher Post-Relapse Survival with Related or Unrelated HCT than Haploidentical HCT
August 2016Solh M, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – This single-center study of 237 consecutive patients who relapsed after HCT found that one-year post-relapse survival (PRS) was significantly higher in patients receiving matched related and matched unrelated grafts compared to those receiving haploidentical donor transplants using post-transplant cyclophosphamide. -
Biomarker Panel Can Predict Risk of Chronic GVHD
August 2016Yu J, et al. J Clin Oncol – Researchers analyzing plasma samples of 53 HCT recipients identified 4 proteins that when used in a biomarker panel was prognostic of developing chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). -
In Era of Novel Agents, Autologous Transplant Still Preferred Treatment for Multiple Myeloma
August 2016Cavo M, et al. ASCO abstract oral presentation, June 2016 – Up-front autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) should remain the preferred treatment for younger patients who are newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to results of a clinical trial reported at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. -
Use of TKIs to Prevent Relapse after HCT for Patients with Ph+ ALL
July 2016Giebel S, et al. Cancer – This consensus report from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) gives an overview of clinical studies on the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) to prevent relapse after allogeneic HCT for Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). -
FLT3 Mutation Has No Effect on Survival in HCT for AML
July 2016Deol A, et al. Cancer – This multi-center study of 511 adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) showed that FLT3 mutation status had no effect on non-relapse mortality (NRM), leukemia-free survival (LFS), or overall survival (OS) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
HCT Outcomes in Older Patients with SAA Comparable to Younger Patients
July 2016Shin SH, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – A study of 117 adults with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) undergoing lower-intensity HCT using HLA-matched sibling donors found that transplant outcomes were comparable between older patients (>40 years) and younger patients (≤40 years). -
Improved Survival Over Time in Pediatric HCT
July 2016Svenberg P, et al. Ped Transplant – A long-term study of pediatric allogeneic transplants found that outcomes improved over time, with significantly improved overall survival (OS) in transplants performed in the 2003-2013 time period compared to those performed in 1992-2002. -
Comparable Survival, More GVHD Risk Using EBV-Seropositive HCT Donors
July 2016Styczynski J, et al. J Clin Oncol – A large-scale retrospective study of the effect of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) serostatus on outcomes of allogeneic HCT in 11,364 patients with acute leukemia found that patients receiving grafts from EBV-seropositive donors had the same overall survival as patients who received grafts from EBV-seronegative donors. -
Study Confirms Effective Treatment of Veno-Occulusive Disease Using Defibrotide
July 2016Strouse C, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A large-scale retrospective study found that treatment with defibrotide can be an effective treatment for post-HCT veno-occlusive disease (VOD) and severe VOD (VOD with multi-organ failure). -
Expanding Use of HCT to Treat Sickle Cell Disease
June 2016Arnold SD, et al. Br J Haematol – In this review of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for sickle cell disease (SCD), the authors outline the indications for transplantation in both children and adults, and note that overall survival in matched sibling HCT exceeds 90%. -
Early HCT Warranted in Therapy-Related MDS, AML
June 2016Finke J, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – In this long-term study of 79 patients with therapy-related myelodysplasia (t-MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML), 10-year disease-free survival (DFS) and OS rates in this high-risk patient cohort were 35% and 38%, respectively. -
Review: How I Treat AML Patients with Preexisting Comorbidities
June 2016Ofran Y, et al. Blood – In this installment of the “How I treat …” series in Blood, the authors present eight clinical vignettes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and discuss practical approaches to comorbidities that affect clinical decision-making, especially in determining which patients are candidates for allogeneic HCT. -
Haploidentical and Matched Related Donor HCT Result in Comparable Outcomes
June 2016Ghosh N, et al. J Clin Oncol – In this multi-center study of 987 adults with lymphoma undergoing HCT with post-transplant cyclophosphamide, outcomes were comparable between haploidentical (n=180) and matched sibling donors (MSD; n=807). -
HCT Yields Over 80% 3-Year Survival and Low Relapse in High-Risk FL Patients
May 2016Laport GG, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) using reduced-intensity conditioning with rituximab yields excellent survival in high-risk patients with follicular lymphoma (FL), according to results of a prospective phase II study by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN). -
A Biomarker-Guided Prophylaxis Strategy Reduces Acute GVHD
May 2016Chang Y-J, et al. J Clin Oncol – A randomized trial of 228 patients undergoing haploidentical HCT has demonstrated that low-dose corticosteroid prophylaxis administered to patients at high risk of developing acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) can significantly decrease the incidence of the disease. -
Review: Advances in Allo-HCT Expand Use in Older Patients with NHL
May 2016Fenske TS, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – In this review, the authors present data supporting allogeneic HCT as a therapeutic option for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma focusing on patients over age 60. -
Sustained Long-Term Financial Burden of Allo-HCT on Patients/Caregivers
May 2016Denzen EM, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Results of a 2-year pilot study of 16 allogeneic HCT recipients and their caregivers found that only half of patients who contributed to household income prior to HCT returned to work and a significant portion still faced financial challenges at least 2 years post-HCT. -
Scoring System Predicts Transplant Outcomes of Patients with MDS
April 2016Shaffer BC, et al. J Clin Oncol – By studying 2,133 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) undergoing allogeneic transplantation, researchers have developed an improved prognostic scoring system predictive of outcomes that integrates patient- and disease-specific factors beyond the IPSS-R scoring system. -
Review: HCT Vaccination Guidelines
April 2016Carpenter PA, et al. Blood – In this installment of the “How I treat …” series in Blood, the authors present a concise practical review of vaccination guidelines for HCT recipients. -
Prognostic Model Predicts HCT Outcomes in Patients with DLBCL
April 2016Fenske TS, et al. Br J Haematol – Researchers have developed a prognostic model to identify which patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who have failed a prior autologous transplant would best benefit from a subsequent allogeneic transplant. -
Reduced Risk of Chronic GVHD with Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide
April 2016Mielcarek M, et al. Blood – High-dose cyclophosphamide administered after peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation can reduce the risk of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), according to a single-center study of 43 patients. -
Disease Status, Not Cytogenetics, Predict HCT Outcome in Adult ALL
April 2016Aldoss I, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – This retrospective single-center study of 333 adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has found that cytogenetic risk is not an independent predictor of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcome. -
Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Donors Recover More Quickly Than Bone Marrow Donors
April 2016Burns LJ, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A study of unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in a phase 3 Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) trial has shown that peripheral blood stem cell donors recover more quickly than bone marrow donors. -
Decision-Making Recommendations for Older Adults Considering HCT
April 2016Randall J, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – This article outlines strategies to help older adults make an informed decision about transplantation, recognizing that older adults will likely have different functional and psychosocial considerations at this stage in life. -
Higher Rates of Infection after Marrow Compared to PBSC Transplants
April 2016Young J-A H, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A study of unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients in a phase 3 Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) trial has shown that bone marrow graft recipients had higher rates of bacterial and pre-engraftment infections than did peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) recipients. -
Haploidentical, Unrelated Donor HCT Outcomes Comparable in Lymphoma
March 2016Kanate AS, et al. Blood – Reduced-intensity HCT using haploidentical or matched unrelated donors (URD) yields comparable outcomes, according to a study of 917 adults transplanted for lymphoma. -
Better HCT Outcomes Over Time in Children and Adolescents
March 2016Brissot E, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Major advances in supportive care and HCT practice in the past decade have resulted in expanded indications and a significant survival benefit for pediatric patients undergoing allogeneic HCT, according to a single-center study of 250 children and adolescents transplanted between 1983 and 2010. -
Allo- Better than Auto-HCT for Early Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma
March 2016Lunning MA, et al. Brit J Haematol – An analysis of 44 patients with early relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) shows a significant difference in 3-year event-free survival (EFS) between allogeneic and autologous transplantation (80% vs. 42%, respectively; p<0.015), but only in patients with previous remission duration of ≤12 months. -
Improved Quality of Life, No GVHD after HCT in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease
March 2016Saraf SL, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – HCT using an innovative conditioning regimen can result in a cure with marked improvements in quality of life for patients with high-risk sickle cell disease, according to a study of 13 adults transplanted using matched related donors. -
Higher Dose of Invariant Natural Killer T Cells Improves HCT Outcomes
March 2016Malard F, et al. Blood – Allogeneic HCT using peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) grafts have better outcomes when the grafts contain large doses of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, according to a single-center study of 80 consecutive patients transplanted between 2010 and 2013. -
The Role of Pre-Transplant Clonal Burden in Myelodysplastic Syndromes
March 2016Brierley CK, et al. Curr Opin Hematol – In this review, the authors review data on disease burden and transplant outcomes in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and describe which MDS patients may benefit most from allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Increased Use of and Improved Survival in HCT for Patients ≥70 Years
February 2016Muffly L, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, February 2016 – A study of 1,106 patients ≥70 years undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) between 2000 and 2013 has found that overall survival has improved significantly and use of HCT in this patient cohort has increased over the last decade. -
Pre-HCT Depression Leads to Lower Survival, Higher Risk of Acute GVHD
February 2016El-Jawahri A, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, February 2016 – Results of a large-scale study comparing adults with and without diagnosed depression prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) found that those with pre-HCT depression had significantly lower survival and a higher incidence of grade II-IV acute GVHD. -
Low Incidence of Late Cardiovascular Complications after Pediatric HCT
February 2016Duncan CN, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, February 2016 – Serious cardiovascular (CV) late effects are uncommon in pediatric transplant survivors, according to a multi-center study of 661 children who underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for hematologic malignancy between 1995 and 2008. -
Children Under 3 Years Old Undergoing HCT Require Long-Term Monitoring for Late Effects
February 2016Vrooman L, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, February 2016 – A study of myeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) performed in children under 3 years old has found that although transplant-related mortality at 10 years is only 5%, recipients require monitoring for late complications. -
Minimal Residual Disease a Powerful Prognosticator in Standard-Risk AML
February 2016Ivey A, et al. N Engl J Med – Minimal residual disease (MRD) detected by quantitation of NPM1-mutated transcripts is more predictive of relapse and survival than molecular profiling in patients with NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a study of 2,569 samples obtained from 346 patients with NPM1-mutated AML. -
Risk Factors Identified for Post-HCT Depression, Fatigue
February 2016Jim HSL, et al. Cancer – An analysis of long-term survivors of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has identified clinical risk factors for post-transplant depression and fatigue. -
Review: Maintenance with TKIs Post-Transplant in FLT3-ITD Positive AML
February 2016Schiller GJ, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – This review discusses the clinical evidence on FLT3-specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) being used as post-transplant maintenance in patients with FLT3-ITD acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) who are at high-risk for disease relapse. -
Meta-Analysis: Outcomes of HCT in Hodgkin Lymphoma Have Improved Over Time
February 2016Rashidi A, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – This meta-analysis encompassing 1,850 patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has found that hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes in HL have improved since 2000. -
Children’s Oncology Group: Long-Term Follow-Up Guidelines After Pediatric HCT
February 2016Chow EJ, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – The Children’s Oncology Group (COG) has updated its Long-Term Follow-Up Guidelines for survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer, including those undergoing autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and malignant and non-malignant diseases. -
Review: HCT for Patients with AML in First Complete Remission
January 2016Cornelissen JJ, et al. Blood – In this review, part of a Blood journal special review series on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the authors note that although the majority of patients AML enter remission upon induction chemotherapy, the risk of relapse is considerable and it varies greatly according to age and genetic subtype. -
AML Review Series in Blood Highlights Latest Advances
January 2016Löwenberg B, et al. Blood – The journal Blood has published a six-article series examining the current and future treatment of AML to guide the optimal individual treatment approach. -
New Analysis Determines HLA Match Rates in Be The Match Registry
January 2016Buck K, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A new analysis of the Be The Match Registry has determined that 7/8 HLA match rates are >80% for all four of the most frequent patient race/ethnic groups in the United States – White (WH), Hispanic (HIS), Asian/Pacific Islander (AIP), and African American (AFA). -
ATG Significantly Lowers Rate of Chronic GVHD
January 2016Kröger N, et al. N Engl J Med – Adding anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) to a myeloablative conditioning regimen can cut the 2-year rate of chronic GVHD in half, according to results of a multi-center, prospective randomized trial of 168 patients transplanted for acute leukemias. -
Review: Allogeneic HCT to Treat High-Risk Multiple Myeloma
January 2016Dhakal B, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – In this review, the authors outline the use of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to treat multiple myeloma (MM), noting that allogeneic HCT should be strongly considered only for high-risk MM patients as part of their initial course of therapy or in first chemotherapy-sensitive relapse within a clinical trial. -
Improved Outcomes in HCT Recipients with Acute GVHD Over Time
January 2016El-Jawahri A, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A retrospective analysis of 427 hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients who develop grades III or IV acute GVHD has found that outcomes have improved over time, with significantly lower transplant-related mortality (TRM) and increased overall survival (OS) in more recent transplants. -
Minimal Residual Disease Best Method to Define Complete Remission in AML
January 2016Araki D, et al. J Clin Oncol – Results of a study of 359 adults transplanted for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) indicate there is clinical relevance to minimal residual disease (MRD) that may lead to a better estimate of expected treatment outcomes. -
Patients Age 65 Years and Older with MDS Should Not Be Limited from Undergoing HCT
December 2015Atallah E, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – Patients over age 65 with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) should be considered transplant eligible, according to an oral presentation at the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting. -
Salvage Autologous Transplant Better than Non-Transplant Therapy in Relapsed Multiple Myeloma
December 2015Cook G, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 - A second autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients relapsing after a prior autologous HCT leads to better overall survival than non-transplant therapy, according to research presented at the ASH Annual Meeting. -
Autologous Transplantation for Multiple Myeloma in the Era of New Drugs
December 2015Attal M, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 - A multi-center randomized trial of 700 patients <65 years old with de novo multiple myeloma (MM) has shown that autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) following treatment with lenalidomide, bortezomib and dexamethasone (RVD) is better than treatment with these drugs alone. -
Higher Relapse-Free Survival with Myeloablative HCT in Patients with AML and MDS
December 2015Scott BL, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – A phase III randomized trial presented at the ASH Annual Meeting has shown that although reduced-intensity regimens have lower treatment-related mortality (TRM), they also incur higher relapse rates. -
Three-Year Survival of 94% in HCT for Sickle Cell Disease
December 2015Cappelli B, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – Results presented at ASH from a study of 1,000 matched sibling donor transplants in patients with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) have demonstrated a three-year overall survival of 94% and an event-free survival of 90%. -
HCT for Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma Leads to 5-Year Survival of 52%
December 2015Sureda A, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – Patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) can experience a 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 52%, according to the results of the largest FL study to date of 1,538 allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients whose outcomes were reported to two major transplant registry databases. -
Early HCT for SCD in Children is Preferred Therapy Prior to Onset of SCD Complications
December 2015Satwani P, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to treat sickle cell disease (SCD) can result in up to 96% survival at two years, according to research results presented at the ASH Annual Meeting. -
Comparable Outcomes in Unrelated Donor vs. Haploidentical HCT with Cyclophosphamide
December 2015Mussetti A, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – Lower-intensity hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) using haploidentical donors and post-transplant cyclophosphamide for GVHD prophylaxis can achieve outcomes comparable to HLA-matched unrelated donor transplants, according to results of a retrospective study of 917 adults with Hodgkin or Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. -
Quality of Life Better After Marrow Transplant Than After PBSC Transplant
December 2015Lee SJ, et al. ASH oral presentation, December 2015 – A secondary analysis of the large-scale (n=551) Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) randomized study of unrelated donor bone marrow (BM) vs. peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant has found that BM recipients have better psychological well-being and less burdensome chronic GVHD symptoms than PBSC recipients. -
Azacitidine Feasible as a Bridge to HCT in Patients with Higher-Risk MDS or Low-Blast Count AML
December 2015Voso MT, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – A multi-center study of 93 patients with higher-risk MDS or low blast count AML demonstrated that induction with azacitidine (AZA) is a feasible “bridge to transplant,” with 52% of patients able to undergo HCT. -
Prognostic Model Identifies Relapsed DLBCL Patients Who Can Achieve Durable Progression-Free Survival After Allogeneic HCT
December 2015Fenske TS, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – A new prognostic model identifies a subgroup of adults with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) relapsing after an autologous transplant who can experience long-term progression-free survival following an allogeneic transplant. -
New Scoring System Predictive of HCT Outcomes in Patients with MDS
December 2015Shaffer BC, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – Researchers analyzing transplant outcomes of 2,133 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) have developed a prognostic scoring system that is more predictive of overall survival when compared to the IPSS and IPSS-R systems. -
Meeting the Needs of HCT Recipients Transitioning from Childhood to Adulthood
December 2015Cupit MC, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – In this review, the authors use clinical vignettes to discuss the focused and specific survivorship needs of the growing pediatric and adolescent and young adult (AYA) populations after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Survival 80% or Higher with Allogeneic HCT after Failed Autologous HCT for Lymphoma
December 2015Rezvani AR, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – In a study of 47 patients with lymphoma who had failed prior autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), 3-year overall survival was 81% after allogeneic HCT with a conditioning regimen using total lymphoid irradiation and antithymocyte globulin (TLI-ATG). -
Survival 65% or Higher in HCT for Progressive or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma
December 2015Yano S, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – A multi-center retrospective study of reduced-intensity hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in 46 adults with follicular lymphoma has shown that this therapy can result in a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 71.6%. -
Better HCT Outcomes in Younger Adults with T-Cell ALL
December 2015Cahu X, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – This long-term, retrospective study of 601 adults with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has demonstrated that hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has better outcomes when total body irradiation (TBI) is used for pre-transplant conditioning compared to chemotherapy-only conditioning, but only in adults age <35 years. -
95% One-Year HCT Survival for Adults with Sickle Cell Disease
December 2015Krishnamurti L, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2015 – One-year overall and event-free survival probabilities were both 95% after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in adults with sickle cell disease (SCD), according to results of a multi-center study reported at the ASH Annual Meeting. -
Meta-Analysis: Age Not a Determining Factor in HCT Selection for AML
November 2015Rashidi A, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – A meta-analysis of 749 patients >60 years undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has shown that older age per se should not be the sole criterion against selecting HCT therapy. -
Low Non-Relapse Mortality, GVHD after HCT in Older Patients with AML in First Remission
November 2015Devine SM, et al. J Clin Oncol – A multi-center phase II study of 114 patients aged 60-74 years with AML in first remission has found that reduced-intensity HCT can lead to a low incidence of non-relapse mortality (NRM) and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). -
Review: HLA-Identical Sibling HCT to Treat Sickle Cell Disease in Children
November 2015Walters MC, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – In this of review of HLA-identical sibling transplantation to treat sickle cell disease (SCD) in children, the authors assess the risk of mortality and compare published rates of survival in SCD patients treated and not treated by HCT. -
Pre-Transplant Patient-Reported Physical Health Predicts Post-Transplant Mortality
November 2015Wood WA, et al. Cancer – Pre-transplant patient-reported outcomes (PROs) on a physical health scale independently predicted overall mortality (hazards ratio, 1.40 per 10-point decrease; p<0.001) of 336 allogeneic and 310 autologous HCT recipients enrolled in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network 0902 protocol. -
HCT Yields Best Outcomes in Patients ≥60 Years with AML
October 2015Versluis J, et al. Lancet Haematol – A study analyzing a series of four multi-center trials has shown significantly better 5-year overall survival for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients aged 60 years and older with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when compared with no and other post-remission therapies. -
Review: Acute Myeloid Leukemia
October 2015Döhner H, et al. N Engl J Med – In this review, the authors describe recent advances in disease classification, identification of prognostic factors, understanding of the genomic landscape, current treatment, and new therapies under investigation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults. -
Consensus Report: Salvage Therapy with HCT for Relapsed Multiple Myeloma
October 2015Giralt S, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – This consensus report from four professional transplant organizations establishes recommendations on the role of high-dose therapy with autologous or allogeneic HCT in multiple myeloma patients relapsing after primary therapy. -
AML patients ≥70 Achieve 60% Estimated Survival with UCB HCT
October 2015Sandhu KS, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – In this single-center retrospective study of 22 transplant recipients 70 years and older, 10 patients undergoing umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation had an estimated 2-year overall survival of 60%. -
Review: Indications for Allo-HCT in Primary Myelofibrosis
October 2015Kröger NM, et al. Leukemia – This review outlines consensus-based recommendations for consideration of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in primary myelofibrosis. -
Allogeneic HCT Better than Autologous HCT for Progression-Free Survival in Follicular Lymphoma
September 2015Klyuchnikov E, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – In adults with follicular lymphoma (FL), reduced-intensity allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) yields better long-term survival compared to autologous HCT, according to results of a study of 518 rituximab-treated patients with FL transplanted between 2000 and 2012. -
GVHD Marker Found in HLA-DPB1 Mismatched HCT
September 2015Petersdorf EW, et al. N Engl J Med –In this study of 2,029 transplants reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research), researchers found that an HLA-DPB1 mismatch is not sufficient by itself to lead to GVHD, but is dependent upon specific DPB1 allele variations in both the donor and the recipient. -
Non-Myeloablative Haploidentical HCT in Older Patients
September 2015Kasamon YL, et al. J Clin Oncol – This retrospective, single-center study found that age had no significant effect on survival of 271 patients age 50-75 years undergoing non-myeloablative haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Review: Treating T-Cell ALL in Adults
September 2015Litzow MR, et al. Blood – In this installment of the “How I treat ...” series in Blood, the authors review treatment strategies for T-cell immunophenotype acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). -
Ruxolitinib Effective in Treating Steroid-Refractory GVHD
September 2015Zeiser R, et al. Leukemia – Ruxolitinib therapy to treat corticosteroid-refractory acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in transplant recipients can achieve response rates >80%, according to a multi-center study of 95 patients treated with this JAK1/2 inhibitor. -
ASBMT Guidelines: Indications for Autologous and Allogeneic HCT
August 2015Majhail NS, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — These guidelines, issued by the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT), identify established indications for autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), and make recommendations on emerging indications where HCT may be beneficial. -
Review: Treating Early Relapsed and Refractory AML
August 2015Thol F, et al. Blood – In this installment of the “How I treat ...” series in Blood, the authors note that few patients with primary refractory or resistant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can be cured with conventional salvage therapy, and they should therefore be evaluated for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Comparable Survival in Clinical Trial Participants vs. Nonparticipants
August 2015Khera N, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — Do clinical trial participants have better outcomes than comparable patients who are not treated on a trial? A study by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) examined that question by analyzing outcomes of a large-scale, randomized study comparing peripheral blood with bone marrow transplantation from unrelated donors. -
Novel Agents for Consolidation and Maintenance Therapy After Auto-HCT for Multiple Myeloma
August 2015Mohty M, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Substantial improvements in the depth of response prior to transplant has been seen with the use of novel agents such as proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs. -
Excellent Outcomes in Outpatient Autologous HCT for Patients with Myeloma or Lymphoma
July 2015Graff TM, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant – Researchers comparing outcomes of 230 patients with myeloma or lymphoma who underwent autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) on an inpatient vs. outpatient basis within a single transplant program have found comparable outcomes in the two cohorts. -
Validation of HCT Comorbidity Scoring: Improving Therapy Selection
July 2015Sorror ML, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — A large-scale prospective observational study of 8,115 allogeneic and 11,652 autologous transplants has validated the prognostic utility of the hematopoietic cell transplantation-comorbidity index (HCT-CI). -
Review: ALL in Older Adolescents and Young Adults
July 2015Curran E, et al. Blood — In this installment of the “How I treat ...” series in Blood, the authors use four case studies to describe their approach to treating adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). -
Improved Outcomes in Alternative Donor HCT for Fanconi Anemia
July 2015MacMillan ML, et al. Blood — This prospective study of 130 patients (age range 1-48) transplanted for Fanconi anemia (FA) has shown that over a period of 10 years, transplant toxicity has decreased and engraftment has improved, resulting in a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 58% (95% CI, 49-59). -
Haploidentical vs. Matched Unrelated HCT for AML
July 2015Ciurea SO, et al. Blood — This study of 2,174 adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) compared using haploidentical (n=192) and 8/8 HLA-matched unrelated donor (n=1,982) grafts. -
Review: Treatment Options for Adults with Relapsed or Refractory Ph- ALL
June 2015Frey NV, et al. Blood — In this installment of the “How I treat ...” series in Blood, the authors outline their clinical algorithm to treat adult patients with relapsed Philadelphia chromosome negative acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL). -
Comparable Outcomes in Haploidentical, Unrelated Cord Blood HCT
June 2015Ruggeri A, et al. Leukemia — A large-scale study of 1,446 patients with acute leukemias has found no significant difference in survival after transplant using unmanipulated haploidentical grafts vs. unrelated cord blood grafts. -
Level of HLA Match Affects Outcomes in Reduced-Intensity HCT
June 2015Verneris MR, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — This retrospective, large-scale study examined the effect of HLA match on reduced-intensity, unrelated donor transplantation. -
ASBMT Evidence-Based Review: The Role of HCT in Multiple Myeloma
June 2015Shah N, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — This systematic evidence-based review by the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) evaluated the role of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in the treatment of multiple myeloma. -
ASBMT Evidence-Based Review: The Role of HCT in Hodgkin Lymphoma
May 2015Perales M-A, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — This systematic evidence-based review by the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) evaluated the role of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in pediatric and adult populations. -
Simple Procedure Offers Significant Advances in Umbilical Cord Blood HCT
May 2015Popat U, et al. Blood — A simple ex vivo technique to improve the ability of umbilical cord blood cells to find their way to the bone marrow can significantly accelerate neutrophil and platelet engraftment following double cord blood transplantation. -
Extramedullary Disease in AML Does Not Affect HCT Outcomes
May 2015Goyal SD, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — Researchers analyzing outcomes of 9,797 allogeneic transplants in patients with AML - including 814 patients with extramedullary disease (EMD) - have found that EMD does not affect transplant outcomes. -
Multi-Center Validation of the Prognostic Value of the HCT-Specific Comorbidity Index
May 2015ElSawy M, et al. Br J Haematol — This multi-center, retrospective analysis of 2,523 consecutive allogeneic transplants at five U.S. transplant centers has validated the prognostic value of the hematopoietic cell transplantation-specific comorbidity index (HCT-CI) to predict the risk of non-relapse mortality (NRM) and overall survival (OS). -
Comparable Survival in Cord Blood, Mismatched Unrelated HCT for AML
May 2015Malard F, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — A long-term study of 651 adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving reduced-intensity (RIC) or nonmyeloablative conditioning (NMA) transplantation has found comparable four-year survival with umbilical cord blood and mismatched unrelated donors: 47.9% vs. 50.5%, respectively (p=0.81). -
Review: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among HCT Recipients
May 2015Chakraborty R, et al. Cancer — Clinicians are often reluctant to provide specific complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy recommendations despite use by a growing group of HCT survivors. -
A Refined Acute GVHD Risk Score Can Predict HCT Outcomes
April 2015MacMillan ML, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Researchers examining the clinical stage and grade of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in 1,723 patients at the onset of treatment with systemic steroids have developed a new GVHD risk score that predicts response to initial therapy, survival, and transplant-related mortality. -
PET Scans Predict Relapse in Patients with NHL
April 2015Bachanova V, et al. Oral presentation, BMT Tandem Meetings — New research results from a large-scale study have demonstrated that positron emission tomography (PET) scans can be used to predict risk of relapse in adults undergoing allogeneic HCT for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). -
Excellent Survival in Pediatric Cord Blood Transplant for Non-Malignant Disorders
April 2015Martinez C, et al. Oral presentation, BMT Tandem Meetings — Pediatric patients with non-malignant disorders can achieve “excellent overall survival” of 96%, without significant GVHD, after cord blood transplantation, according to results of a prospective trial presented at the BMT Tandem Meetings. -
Long-Term Outcomes after HCT for Mantle Cell Lymphoma
April 2015Vaughn J, et al. Oral presentation, BMT Tandem Meetings — A study of 70 patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) undergoing non-myeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) demonstrated that a majority can achieve 5-year survival and can discontinue immunosuppressive medications. -
Excellent HCT Outcomes in Fanconi Anemia without Radiation
April 2015Bonfim C, et al. Oral presentation, BMT Tandem Meetings — Five-year 5-year overall survival was 87% in a single-center study of 103 consecutive patients with Fanconi anemia who underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation between 2003 and 2014 using chemotherapy-only conditioning. -
Younger Donor Age Correlates with Higher CD-8 T Cell Counts, Better HCT Outcomes
April 2015Reshef R, et al. Oral presentation BMT Tandem Meetings — New research presented at the BMT Tandem Meetings has shown that younger donor age correlates with higher CD-8 T cell counts, and that more CD-8 T cells lead to significantly better HCT outcomes. -
Allogeneic HCT for Acute Biphenotypic Leukemias
April 2015Munker R, et al. Oral presentation, BMT Tandem Meetings — New research presented at the BMT Tandem Meetings on transplants in patients with acute biphenotypic leukemias (ABiL) has found that 3-year overall survival (OS) in these patients is 65%, leading researchers to conclude that “allogeneic HCT is a valid treatment option for patients with ABiL and should be explored in patients without significant comorbidities.” -
Haploidentical HCT with Cyclophosphamide for High-Risk Leukemias
April 2015Symons H, et al. Oral presentation, BMT Tandem Meetings — Myeloablative transplants using T-cell-replete haploidentical grafts and post-transplant cyclophosphamide can result in a 2-year overall survival (OS) of 57%, with cumulative incidence of relapse reaching 44% at 3 years according to results of a phase II study presented at the BMT Tandem Meetings. -
Long-Term Study of HCT in Hurler Syndrome: Impact of Timing and Non-Carrier Donors
April 2015Aldenhoven M, et al. Blood — In this multi-center study of patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type I-Hurler syndrome (MPS-IH), 217 patients were transplanted at a median age of 16 months (range, 2-47 months) with a median age at last follow-up of 9.2 years (range, 3-23 years). -
Outcomes of Extracorporeal Photopheresis Better in Early Stage GVHD
April 2015Berger M, et al. Transfusion — A study of extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) in 71 patients has shown that the procedure is effective in treating steroid-refractory or -dependent acute GVHD or chronic GVHD with lower severity in the early stages. -
Review: Role of HCT for CML in the 21st Century
April 2015Barrett AJ, et al. Blood — Although tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have largely replaced hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) as first-line treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), the authors of this review note that HCT remains a curative option for accelerated/blastic-phase CML and selected chronic-phase CML. -
New Guidelines for Secondary Solid Cancer Screening Following HCT
April 2015Inamoto Y, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — The incidence of secondary malignancies rises after HCT, with the most common occurrences in the oral cavity, skin, breast, and thyroid, according to this consensus report from CIBMTR and EBMT. -
Comparable HCT Outcomes for Patients with de novo or Secondary AML in CR1
April 2015Michelis FV, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — A single-center study of 264 patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML; n=180) and secondary AML (sAML; n=84) in first complete remission (CR1) undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has shown that both patient groups have comparable long-term outcomes. -
Validated Chronic GVHD Risk Score Can Predict Major HCT Outcomes
March 2015Arora M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — A chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) risk score, used to predict mortality in patients with GVHD, has now been validated by additional analysis of 1,128 patients with chronic GVHD transplanted between 2005 and 2007. -
Review: Reduced-Intensity HCT in Adults with AML
March 2015Reshef R, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — In this review, the authors discuss the current status of reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in treating acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). -
AZA, DLI Effective Therapy for MDS, AML with Low Disease Burden
March 2015Schroeder T, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — Results of a multicenter analysis have found that azacitidine (AZA) and donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) can be a successful therapy for relapse after allogeneic HCT. -
Related, Unrelated HCT Outcomes Comparable in Pediatric ALL
March 2015Peters C, et al. J Clin Oncol — A large-scale, multi-center study of 411 transplants for children with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has shown comparable transplant outcomes with sibling and unrelated donors. -
No Impact of Patient Age on Survival in Reduced-Intensity HCT
March 2015Federmann B, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — Patient age has no significant impact on survival, according to results of a retrospective study of 151 patients aged ≥60 undergoing reduced-intensity allogeneic HCT with related and unrelated donors between 2000 and 2012. -
Review: Post-Transplant High-Dose Cyclophosphamide to Prevent GVHD
March 2015Al-Homsi AS, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — This review article focuses on the mechanism of action of post-transplant cyclophosphamide, with a discussion of the clinical data on its efficacy in the prevention of GVHD. -
HCT Better than Chemotherapy As Post-Remission Therapy for AML Patients Age 40-60
February 2015Cornelissen JJ, et al. Leukemia — In this study comparing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), chemotherapy, and autologous HCT outcomes in 760 patients age 40-60 years with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in CR1, allogeneic HCT had improved 5-year survival compared with chemotherapy: 57% vs. 40%, respectively (p<0.001). -
Autologous, Allogeneic HCT Both Effective in Pediatric High-Risk AML
February 2015Locatelli F, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — A prospective multi-center study of 243 children with high-risk AML in CR1 undergoing allogeneic HCT (n=141) or autologous HCT (n=102), depending on availability of an HLA-compatible sibling donor. -
Review: How I Treat JMML
February 2015Locatelli F, et al. Blood — In this installment of the “How I treat ...” series in Blood, the authors outline the somatic or germline mutations that are the underlying cause of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) and describe their treatment algorithm for this aggressive hematopoietic disorder of infancy/early childhood. -
Post-HCT Fungal and Viral Infections: Improving Outcomes over Time
February 2015Parody R, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — This retrospective analysis comparing post-transplant infections in cord blood (n=65) and bone marrow/PBSC transplant recipients (n=369) found that although cord blood transplantation was associated with a higher risk of invasive aspergillosis and cytomegalovirus infections, infection-related mortality was comparable in the two types of transplants. -
Biomarkers Predict Severity of GVHD after HCT
January 2015Levine JE, et al. Lancet Haematol – A prognostic score based on the blood plasma concentration of three biomarkers can guide risk-adapted therapy at the onset of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Review: How I Treat the Older Patient with AML
January 2015Ossenkopple G, et al. Blood – In this installment of the “How I treat” series in Blood, the authors discuss the highly heterogeneous clinical biology of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) among patients and how those variations are relevant for prognosis and treatment choice. -
Review: Collaborative Partnerships to Manage Patients with Chronic GVHD
January 2015Flowers MED, et al. Blood — In this review titled “How we treat chronic graft-versus-host disease” the authors outline their strategies for treating chronic GVHD, emphasizing that transplant center physicians and the hematology and oncology specialists who offer ongoing supportive care need to be collaborative partners to best manage their patients who develop chronic GVHD. -
Donor vs. No Donor Study: Better Outcome with Allo-HCT in NPM1-Mutated AML
January 2015Röllig C, et al. J Clin Oncol — In this prospective donor vs. no-donor analysis of adults (age 18 to 60 years) having AML with the NPM1 mutation, allogeneic HCT in first remission using HLA-identical sibling donors led to a significantly prolonged relapse-free survival (RFS) compared to consolidation or autologous HCT. -
Marrow, Peripheral Blood Yield Comparable 5-year Survival in Reduced-Intensity HCT
January 2015Eapen M, et al. J Clin Oncol — This study examining the outcomes of peripheral blood stem cell (PB) and bone marrow (BM) transplants using reduced-intensity conditioning found no significant differences in outcomes based on graft source. -
Report: BMT CTN 2014 State of the Science
January 2015Appelbaum Fr, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — This report from the third State of the Science Symposia conducted by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) outlines a scientific agenda describing the most important clinical questions to be addressed through future clinical trials in the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation. -
Post-HCT Cyclophosphamide is Effective as Sole GVHD Prophylaxis
December 2014Kanakry CG, et al. Blood — High-dose, post-transplant cyclophosphamide can successfully reduce severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after T-cell-replete allogeneic transplantation for AML, ALL, and MDS, using related and unrelated donors. -
Review: Next Generation Treatment of Acute GVHD
December 2014Magenau J, et al. Leukemia — This review describes the recent advances in the understanding of the underlying molecular basis of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). -
Survival of Patients with AML Relapsing after Allogeneic HCT
December 2014Bejanyan N, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — This large-scale study of 1,231 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapsing after allogeneic HCT during first or second complete remission has identified several factors associated with longer post-relapse survival. -
Alternative Donor HCT for Lymphoma Patients Lacking an HLA-Matched Donor
December 2014Bachanova V, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — Allogeneic HCT using matched unrelated donors, mismatched unrelated donors, and umbilical cord blood (UCB) have comparable survival in patients with lymphoma, according to a large-scale analysis of 1,593 transplants between 2000 and 2010 reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research). -
Treosulfan-Based Conditioning and HCT for Nonmalignant Diseases
December 2014Burroughs LM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — Patients with nonmalignant diseases undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation using treosulfan-based conditioning can achieve a 2-year survival of 90%, according to a prospective multi-center trial of 31 transplants. -
Reduced-Intensity HCT Significantly Improves Survival in Elderly Patients with AML in CR1
December 2014Versluis J, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — Five-year relapse-free survival was higher in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients aged ≥60 years who underwent reduced-intensity allogeneic transplantation in first remission than in patients who did not undergo transplant, according to research results presented at the 2014 ASH Annual Meeting. -
HIV-1 Infection Shouldn’t Preclude HCT for Lymphoma
December 2014Alvarnas J, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — One-year overall survival is 86.6% in patients with HIV-associated lymphoma treated with autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), according to results from a study conducted by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) and presented at ASH. -
Allogeneic HCT Better than Chemotherapy, Autologous HCT in Intermediate-Risk AML
December 2014Esteve J, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — A large-scale study of 630 intermediate-risk adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission who lack mutations of NPM1, FLT3-ITD, and CEBPA has shown that allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) yields better outcomes than high-dose cytarabine-based chemotherapy or autologous transplantation. -
Pre-Transplant Conditioning with Rituximab Yields Good Outcomes in Adults with Follicular Lymphoma
December 2014Laport GG, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — Adding rituximab to a reduced-intensity transplant conditioning regimen in chemotherapy-sensitive patients with follicular lymphoma can result in 2-year overall survival of 83%, according to a multi-center phase II trial of transplants between 2009 and 2012. -
Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide Yields Comparable Outcomes Across Donor Types and Conditioning Regimens
December 2014McCurdy SR, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — Adults transplanted for advanced or poor-risk hematologic malignancies can have comparable outcomes using haploidentical, related donor, or unrelated donor grafts when high-dose post-transplant cyclophosphamide is administered to reduce graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), according to study results presented at ASH. -
Pre-Transplant, Patient-Reported Quality of Life is Prognostic for Transplant Outcomes
December 2014Wood WA, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — Pre-transplant, patient-reported physical health on a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scale was strongly prognostic for allogeneic transplant survival, according to a study of 310 patients enrolled in a multi-center trial conducted by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN). -
Adding an Ex Vivo Expanded Cord Blood Unit Improves Engraftment
December 2014Milano F, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — Co-infusion of a non-HLA matched, ex vivo expanded CBU in addition to an HLA-matched CBU in a transplant recipient is safe, according to research presented at ASH, and can result in significantly more faster hematopoietic recovery: a median of 19 days to neutrophil engraftment compared to historical controls of 25 days. -
FLT3 Mutation Affects Relapse, But Not Survival after HCT for AML
December 2014Deol A, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2014 — A large-scale study of 511 adults undergoing transplant for de novo AML in first or second complete remission with (n=158) or without (n=353) FLT3 mutations has shown that those with the mutation have a significantly higher incidence of relapse, but that overall survival is comparable in the two patient cohorts. -
MMF Plus Corticosteroids Does Not Improve Acute GVHD Treatment Over Corticosteroids Alone
November 2014Bolaños-Meade J, et al. Blood – This phase 3 multi-center randomized double-blinded trial examined whether mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) plus corticosteroids was superior to corticosteroids alone as initial therapy for acute GVHD. -
Similar Survival Rates in Children Transplanted with One vs. Two Umbilical Cord Blood Units
November 2014Wagner JE, et al. N Engl J Med – Children with high-risk blood cancers transplanted with one vs. two umbilical cord blood units had similar survival, according to a multi-center study of 224 cord blood transplants performed between 2006 and 2012 and reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research). -
Long-Term Impact of TBI on Cognitive Functioning in Pediatric HCT
November 2014Willard VW, et al. J Clin Oncol — Using total-body irradiation (TBI) in pre-transplant conditioning regimens lowers cognitive ability, according to a study of 315 pediatric hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. -
Comparable Transplant Outcomes in AML Regardless of Donor Source
November 2014Warlick ED, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — A study of 414 adults transplanted for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in remission between 2000 and 2010 at two institutions has found comparable 6-year overall survival across four donor types: matched related donors (47%); umbilical cord blood (36%); matched unrelated donors (54%); and mismatched unrelated donors (51%) (p=0.11). -
HCT Prognostic Index Guides Clinical Decision-Making
November 2014Sorror ML, et al. J Clin Oncol — New research into a composite prognostic index combining age and comorbidities has validated the utility of the index to guide clinical decision-making in HCT. -
BMT CTN Study to Compare HCT to Hypomethylating Agents to Treat MDS
October 2014Saber W, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — This report outlines the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) trial to compare outcomes of reduced-intensity hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in high-risk patients, 50-75 years of age, with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with outcomes in patients with similar risk receiving novel nontransplant therapies such as hypomethylating agents. -
High-Risk CLL: Current Treatment Considerations with Novel Agents and HCT
October 2014Dreger P, et al. Blood — This review examines currently available evidence and theoretical considerations to advise patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) about the indication and timing of HCT versus the administration of novel classes of drugs such as BCR-signal inhibitors and BCL2 antagonists. -
Significant Improvement in Survival of Unrelated-Donor HCT Over Time
October 2014Majhail NS, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — In this retrospective analysis, researchers analyzed the outcomes of 15,059 unrelated donor transplants reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research) between 2000 and 2009. -
Review: HCT for Patients with AML in First Remission
October 2014Gale RP, et al. Leukemia — This review focuses on the clinical evidence on whether individuals with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in first remission should undergo an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) versus receiving post-remission chemotherapy (or both). -
Specific HLA Alleles Associated with Development of Severe CLL
October 2014Gragert L, et al. Blood — Although CLL has one of the highest familial predispositions of all hematologic malignancies, a strong ethnic predisposition for Caucasians, and a relative sparing of African American and Asian populations, the genetic basis for these differences are not clearly defined. -
High-Resolution HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1 Matching Yields Optimal Survival in Unrelated HCT
September 2014Pidala J, et al. Blood — A large-scale study of 8,003 unrelated donor myeloablative transplants between 1999 and 2011 has demonstrated that high-resolution matching at HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1 yields optimal survival. -
Review: HCT for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms in the Era of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors
September 2014Adekola K, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — This review of allogeneic HCT in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), myelofibrosis, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia includes discussion of how the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) affects clinicians’ decision-making on the timing to pursue transplantation in patients with these diseases. -
Consensus Report: The Role of Autologous and Allogeneic HCT in MCL
September 2014Robinson S, et al. Leukemia — A joint project of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Network (EMCL) has produced a consensus report on the role of autologous and allogeneic HCT in MCL. -
Review: Donor Selection for Adults Lacking a Matched Related or Unrelated Donor
September 2014Eapen M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — Using a case study of a patient with de novo AML lacking a matched related or unrelated donor, the authors evaluate published current and relevant data on choosing between an umbilical cord blood transplant and a haploidentical transplant for this patient. -
Front-Line Allo- or Auto-HCT Prolongs Survival in Young Patients with PTCL
September 2014Corradini P, et al. Leukemia — This phase II study investigated chemotherapy and HCT in patients with newly diagnosed peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) and found that front-line allogeneic or autologous HCT is effective in prolonging disease-free survival (DFS) in young patients (≤60 years). -
Review Series in Blood Journal: Advances in HCT
August 2014Negrin RS, et al. Blood — Scientific and clinical translational research highlighting treatment advances in the field of HCT are available in five review articles in Blood. -
Younger, Older HCT Recipients Have Comparable QOL
August 2014Hamilton BK, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — Older transplant recipients experienced comparable quality of life (QOL) when compared with younger recipients, according to a new prospective study of 351 transplant recipients surveyed between 2003 and 2010. -
Tacrolimus-Sirolimus Comparable to Tacrolimus-Methotrexate as GVHD Prophylaxis
August 2014Cutler C, et al. Blood – A phase 3 Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) study of 304 randomized patients demonstrated that tacrolimus and sirolimus (Tac/Sir) was comparable to tacrolimus and methotrexate (Tac/Mtx) in preventing acute GVHD and early mortality after related donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). -
Early Transplant Best in SCID Infants
August 2014Pai S-Y, et al. N Engl J Med — This multi-center, retrospective study of 240 infants with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) has demonstrated a five-year transplant survival rate of 74% in all patients, with higher rates of 82-94% in select patient groups. -
Consensus Report: Optimal Benefits Packages for HCT Focused on Outcomes
August 2014Maziarz RT, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — Variable benefits packages for HCT may directly affect outcomes of patients undergoing transplant, according to a new report from the National Marrow Donor Program-sponsored System Capacity Initiative. -
High Likelihood that Patients Needing Unrelated HCT Will Find Donor on Be The Match Registry
July 2014Gragert L, et al. N Engl J Med — A study of the U.S. marrow and cord blood registry using population-based genetic models for 21 race and ethnic groups has found that, depending on the group, between 66-97% of patients will have a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched or minimally mismatched available adult donor on the Be The Match Registry®. -
Favorable Overall Survival Results for Allogeneic HCT in Patients with Multiple Myeloma
July 2014Donato ML, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — In this prospective study of 57 patients with multiple myeloma, 26 underwent allogeneic HCT for consolidation after a response to their first autologous transplant, and 30 patients received an allogeneic HCT as salvage therapy. -
Lenalidomide Maintenance after HCT for High-Risk Multiple Myeloma
July 2014Alsina M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — A multi-center study of 30 high-risk patients transplanted for multiple myeloma has demonstrated 18-month overall survival of 78% for patients who received post-transplant lenalidomide maintenance therapy. -
Review: HCT and Novel Approaches in Pediatric ALL
July 2014Pulsipher MA, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — In this review, the authors define the current best and promising future HCT practices for high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children and adolescents and discuss the optimal timing for HCT in these patients. -
Review: Pre-HCT Cytoreductive Treatment in Patients with MDS
July 2014Yakoub-Agha I, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — In this review, the authors discuss the clinical decision-making process involved in cytoreductive treatment before HCT with the objective of reducing the incidence of post-transplant relapse in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). -
Novel Conditioning Regimen Permits HCT for Adults with Severe SCD
July 2014Hsieh MM, et al. JAMA — In this prospective study of 30 patients with severe sickle cell disease (SCD), a novel non-myeloablative conditioning regimen prior to HCT was shown to reduce regimen-related toxicity and result in stable long-term donor mixed T-cell chimerism. -
Review: Critical Need for Long-Term Follow-Up Care after HCT
July 2014Hashmi S, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients have a unique set of complications and late effects that require specialized care and preventive services to maximize long-term survival. -
No Effect of Pre-HCT Cytoreduction in MDS
June 2014Damaj G, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — Cytoreduction with azacitidine (AZA) prior to non-myeloablative transplantation in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has no effect on transplant outcomes, according to a multi-center study comparing patients who received AZA (n=40) and patients who did not (n=88). -
Review: Factors Affecting Selection of a Pre-HCT Conditioning Regimen
June 2014Gyurkocza B, et al. Blood — In this review, the authors outline how a patient’s diagnosis, disease status, donor availability, graft source, and patient-related factors such as the presence or absence of comorbid conditions all influence the choice of a pre-transplant conditioning regimen. -
Better QoL for HCT Survivors with Umbilical Cord Blood vs. Matched Sibling Donors
June 2014Liu H-I, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — This single-center study compared outcomes of 185 consecutive adult patients who underwent myeloablative transplantation using unrelated umbilical cord blood (UCB; n=70) or HLA-identical sibling donor peripheral blood stem cells alone or combined with bone marrow (BM/PBSC; n=115). -
Review: How I Treat Relapsed AML in Children
June 2014Kaspers G. Brit J Haematol — This review discusses the practical clinical issues involved in the treatment of children with relapsed AML. -
Review: Novel Approaches to Treat Acute GVHD
June 2014Holtan SG, et al. Blood — This review highlights novel approaches to early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease, focusing on those now available in the clinical care setting. -
Lower Risk for Serious Adverse Events and No Increased Risk for Cancer after PBSC vs BM Donation
June 2014Pulsipher MA, et al. Blood — In a study of nearly 9,500 peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) and bone marrow donors who donated through the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP®)/Be The Match®, researchers found that life-threatening events were very rare for both types of donation: 0.26% for marrow and 0.03% for PBSC donors. -
Large-Scale Study Validates Prognostic Value of HCT Disease Risk Index
May 2014Armand P, et al. Blood — A new study of 13,131 hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients whose outcomes were reported to the CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research) has validated the prognostic value of the Disease Risk Index (DRI). -
Pre-Transplant Comorbidities Predict Severity of Acute GVHD
May 2014Sorror ML, et al. Blood — A multi-center study of 2,985 allogeneic transplants has demonstrated that the hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI) can predict the severity of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and subsequent mortality. -
Long-Term Study Shows HCT Survival Increasing over Time
May 2014Malard F, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — This single-center study analyzed 827 allogeneic transplants and compared outcomes in three time periods: 1983-1990, 1991-2000, and 2001-2010. -
HCT in Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia: Evidence-Based Focused Review
May 2014King A, et al. Blood — An evidence-based review of the status of HCT as treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia presented in two case studies to introduce possible treatment algorithms based on peer-reviewed, published methods and outcomes of HCT for each disease. -
Geriatric Assessments Can Predict HCT Outcomes in Older Adults
May 2014Muffly LS, et al. Haematologica — A geriatric assessment (GA) tool has independent prognostic utility in allogeneic HCT outcomes in patients aged 50 years and older, according to a study of 203 older adults. -
Encouraging Progression-Free Survival in HCT for Older NHL Patients
April 2014McClune BL, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - This CIBMTR study analyzed outcomes of 1,248 patients age ≥40 years undergoing reduced-intensity or non-myeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for aggressive (n=668) or indolent (n=580) non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). -
Pre-Transplant ATG Protects against GVHD in MDS
April 2014Duléry R, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - In this study of 242 consecutive patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for progressive myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), outcomes were compared between patients receiving rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG; n=93) and those who did not (n=149). -
Review: Preserving Fertility in HCT Recipients
April 2014Joshi S, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - In this review, the authors note that the optimal time to address fertility issues in patients considering HCT is before the onset of therapy for the underlying disease, and that a referral to a reproductive specialist should be made for patients interested in fertility preservation. -
HCT Outcomes Improving over Time in Teens and Young Adults with ALL
April 2014Wood WA, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - Survival in adolescents and young adults (AYAs, ages 15-40 years) undergoing myeloablative HCT for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved over time, according to study data from 2,668 transplant recipients reported to the CIBMTR. -
WMDA Report: Unrelated Donor Medical Suitability
April 2014Lown RN, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - This World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) report outlines the clinical and regulatory issues affecting unrelated adult donor and recipient safety, and practical methods for assessing the health of unrelated adult donors at each stage of the donation process. -
A Contemporary Analysis of the Impact of HLA Mismatch on HCT Outcomes
March 2014Pidala J, et al. – A CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research) study found that single HLA mismatches at HLA-A, -B, -C, or -DRB1 are associated with increased hazard for mortality as observed in earlier studies of unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).
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Pre-Transplant 5-AZA Provides Disease Control in High-Risk MDS
March 2014Nishihori T, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant — In this prospective study of using 5-azacitidine (AZA) as a “bridge to transplant” in 25 adults with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), researchers concluded that pre-transplant AZA “was well tolerated and provided reasonable disease control before allogeneic HCT.” -
Pre-Transplant Imatinib Benefits Adults with Ph+ ALL
March 2014Mizuta S, et al. Blood — A retrospective analysis of 738 adults with Ph+ALL who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) found that pre-transplant imatinib had beneficial effects on overall survival, relapse, and non-relapse mortality compared to a non-imatinib cohort of HCT recipients. -
Double Cord Blood HCT Suitable Alternative to Unrelated Donor HCT in High-Risk Patients
March 2014Ponce DM, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, March 2014 - A single-center study of 211 patients with high-risk acute leukemia, MDS, and CML has shown that double cord blood transplantation has lower relapse risk and comparable survival compared to unrelated donor transplantation. -
Geriatric Assessment has Independent Prognostic Utility in Older HCT Recipients
March 2014Muffly L, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, February 2014 - A geriatric assessment (GA) has independent prognostic utility for hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) outcomes in patients aged 50 years and older, according to a study of 203 older adults undergoing GA within one month prior to transplant. -
Post-HCT Minimal Residual Disease Can Identify Impending Relapse in Pediatric ALL
March 2014Bader P, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, February 2014 - Assessing post-transplant minimal residual disease can identify impending relapse in pediatric ALL patients who may therefore benefit from pre-emptive therapies, according to a prospective study of 115 patients. -
Study Supports Salvage HCT for Relapsed Core Binding Factor AML
March 2014Hobbs G, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, March 2014 - A single-center study of 27 patients with relapsed core binding factor (CBF) AML has demonstrated that salvage hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can result in two-year progression-free survival of 80%. -
Early Transplant in SCID Infants Free from Infections Results in Excellent Outcomes
March 2014Pai S-Y, et al. BMT Tandem Meetings abstract oral presentation, February 2014 - A multi-center retrospective study of 240 infants with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) has demonstrated that five-year transplant survival is 74% overall, but can reach 88-100% in select patient groups. -
Identifying Impact of Donor/Recipient Sex Match in Cord Blood Transplant
March 2014Konuma T, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — In this retrospective study of 191 adults who underwent single cord blood transplantation (CBT), researchers found that donor/recipient sex compatibility did not have a significant impact on survival. -
Extracorporeal Photopheresis Induces Responses in Chronic GVHD
March 2014Dignan FL, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant — Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) to treat chronic GVHD induced complete or partial responses in 50% of transplant recipients in an intention-to-treat-analysis of 38 patients with moderate to severe GVHD. -
IPSS-R and Monosomal Karyotype Predict HCT Outcomes in MDS and AML
March 2014Della Porta MG, et al. Blood — This multi-center study of 519 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or oligoblastic acute myeloid leukemia (<30% marrow blasts) demonstrated that both monosomal karyotype and IPSS-R risk category are important factors predicting outcomes of allogeneic transplantation. -
Unrelated Donor, Cord Blood Grafts Yield Extended Survival in Older AML Patients
February 2014Weisdorf DJ, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Allogeneic transplantation using either unrelated donor or cord blood grafts “can produce extended and even curative long-term survival” in patients over age 50 with AML in first complete remission, according to a study of 740 transplants reported to CIBMTR and Eurocord.
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Related, Unrelated Donor HCT Comparable in DLBCL
February 2014Avivi I, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant -- A multi-center retrospective analysis of 473 adults with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has shown that hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes using matched sibling and unrelated donors are comparable. -
Pre-Transplant MRD Predicts HCT Outcome in AML
February 2014Anthias C, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant -- Pre-transplant minimal residual disease (MRD) levels can predict hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes in patients with AML in first or subsequent remission, according to a single-center retrospective study of 88 adults undergoing myeloablative or reduced-intensity HCT. -
Longer-Term HCT Outcomes for Severe Sickle Cell Disease in Childhood
February 2014Dedeken L, et al. Br J Haematol -- Allogeneic HCT for sickle cell disease (SCD) can lead to survival rates exceeding 90%, according to results of a single-center study of 50 children with severe SCD. -
No Effect of Pre-Transplant Cytarabine Consolidation on AML Transplant Outcomes
February 2014Warlick E, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant -- Pre-transplant cytarabine consolidation therapy has no effect on relapse, disease-free survival, and survival of adults transplanted for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1), according to a study of 604 transplants reported to CIBMTR. -
Reduced-Intensity HCT for Chronic Granulomatous Disease
February 2014Güngör T, et al. Lancet -- Reduced-intensity allogeneic HCT for chronic granulomatous disease can lead to two-year survival rates exceeding 95%, according to the results of a prospective multi-center trial. -
Progress Report: Update of BMT CTN State of the Science Symposium
February 2014Ferrara JLM. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – In this 2014 report, the author updates the status of the 11 hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) clinical trials identified as having the highest scientific priority at the 2007 State of the Science Symposium convened by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN). -
Impact of the Affordable Care Act on HCT
January 2014Farnia S, et al. Curr Hematol Malig Rep — This paper, by NMDP/Be The Match Payor Policy and other staff, reviews the main provisions of the ACA with specific attention to their impact on the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation. -
Comparing Chemotherapy to Allo-HCT in Post-Remission AML
January 2014Stelljes M, et al. J Clin Oncol - Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is “the most potent post-remission therapy for AML,” according to the results of a multi-center, prospective matched pairs analysis of 185 adult patients with AML. -
HCT in CR1 Beneficial to Outcomes for Older AML Patients
January 2014Michelis FV, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - This single-center study examined outcomes of 242 consecutive adults transplanted for AML. -
Early Transplant Best in Chemotherapy-Sensitive MCL
January 2014Fenske TS, et al. J Clin Oncol - For patients with chemotherapy-sensitive mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), the optimal timing for either reduced-intensity HCT (RIC-HCT) or autologous HCT (auto-HCT) is early in the disease course, according to a recent study. -
Blood “How I Treat” Series: Higher-Risk MDS
January 2014Sekeres MA, et al. Blood - The authors of this review recommend that higher-risk eligible MDS patients be offered consultation to discuss allogeneic HCT soon after time of diagnosis, and recommend proceeding to transplantation soon after an optimal donor is located. -
No Significant Difference in Long-Term Experiences of Marrow, PBSC Donors
January 2014Switzer GE, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - A prospective longitudinal study has found no long-term health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) differences between bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donors. -
NCI Report: Prevention and Treatment of Relapse after Allo-HCT
January 2014De Lima M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - A report from the National Cancer Institute on the prevention and treatment of relapse after allogeneic transplantation. -
Review: Options for Patients with Refractory Aplastic Anemia
December 2013Marsh JCW et al. Blood - This review discusses the therapeutic options for aplastic anemia patients not responding to first-line immunosuppressive therapy (IST) with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporin, and have severe cytopenias at six months after IST. -
Peri-Transplant Rituximab in Lymphoma Can Lead to Durable Event-Free Survival
December 2013Sauter CS, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - Non-myeloablative transplantation incorporating peri-transplant-rituximab can lead to a two-year event-free survival (EFS) of 72%, according to results of a prospective trial of 51 patients with CD20+ B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. -
Imatinib to Treat Steroid-Refractory Chronic GVHD
December 2013Olivieri A, et al. Blood - In this prospective trial, researchers administered imatinib to treat steroid-refractory chronic GVHD in 39 adult transplant recipients aged 28-73 years. -
Review: Strategies to Improve Outcomes of Unrelated Donor PBSC Transplants
December 2013Sohn SK, et al. Transfusion - The authors of this review note that because of the higher incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant compared to marrow transplant, strategies need to be different for the two stem cell grafts. -
Inhibition of IL-6 Can Offer “Profound Protection” from Acute GVHD
December 2013Kennedy GA, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2013 – Grade II-IV and grade III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is significantly reduced in transplant recipients receiving a monoclonal antibody inhibiting interleukin-6 (IL-6), according to research results presented at ASH. -
Risk Factors in HCT for Cytogenetically Normal AML
December 2013Schmid C, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2013 – In a large-scale study of 752 adult patients with cytogenetically normal AML, only two factors in a multivariate analysis were associated with poor overall survival (OS) after allogeneic HCT in first complete remission: patient age 50 years and older and presence of FLT3-ITD. -
Comparable Outcomes for Unrelated, Sibling HCT in Aplastic Anemia
December 2013Bacigalupo A, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2013 – Unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and sibling donor HCT yield comparable outcomes in patients with acquired severe aplastic anemia, according to a study of 1,500 patients. -
Childhood HCT Survivors Require Life-Long Monitoring for High-Risk Complications
December 2013Armenian S, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2013 – Pediatric hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients can experience high-risk health complications well into adulthood, and therefore require close monitoring, according to results of 317 pediatric HCT survivors participating in the Bone Marrow Transplant Survivor Study (BMTSS). -
Improved HCT Survival over Time for Adolescents and Young Adults
December 2013Wood WA, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2013 – Survival after HCT has improved significantly over time for adolescents and young adults (age 15-40 years), according to a large-scale, multi-center study of 1,244 myeloablative allogeneic transplants for ALL at U.S. centers over three time periods: 1990-1995, 1996-2001, and 2002-2007. -
Prior Therapy Does Not Affect Transplant Outcomes in High-Risk MDS
December 2013Oran B, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation – Therapies prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) have no effect on outcomes in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), according to a single-center study of 291 patients. -
Comparable Outcomes for Unrelated Donor, Cord Blood HCT in Lymphoma
December 2013Bachanova V, et al. ASH abstract oral presentation, December 2013 – A multi-center study of 1,593 adults with non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma has found that HLA-matched and one-antigen mismatched unrelated donor transplants and cord blood transplants have comparable outcomes. -
Review: Comparing HCT Donor Options in Ph- ALL
November 2013Nishiwaki S, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - This review discusses selecting among unrelated, cord blood, and haploidentical grafts for patients with Ph-negative ALL in CR1 when an HLA-matched related donor is unavailable . -
Report: The Role of HCT in Treating HIV
November 2013Zou S, et al. Blood - This report contains the recommendations of a working group of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened to address emerging cellular therapies to treat HIV infection. -
Understanding Factors in Long-Term HCT Outcome in Fanconi Anemia
November 2013Peffault de Latour RP, et al. Blood - The estimated 20-year survival of 795 Fanconi anemia (FA) patients who underwent first HCT between 1972 and 2010 is 49%, according to this multi-center study published in Blood. -
Personalized Prognostic Information for Adult Leukemia Survivors after HCT
November 2013Lee SJ, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - By analyzing outcomes data of 3,339 adults with AML and 1,434 adults with ALL submitted to the CIBMTR, researchers have developed formulas to estimate future leukemia-free survival (LFS) of transplant recipients surviving one year or more post-transplant. -
Reduced-Intensity HCT for Primary Myelofibrosis is Potentially Curative
November 2013Gupta V, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - In this multi-center study of 233 adults undergoing reduced-intensity conditioning HCT for primary myelofibrosis, five-year survival was 47% and donor type was the only independent factor associated with survival. -
IV Busulfan Better Than TBI in HCT for AML in CR1
October 2013Copelan EA, et al. Blood - Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1) conditioned with intravenous busulfan (IV-Bu) have better outcomes than those receiving total body irradiation (TBI). -
IV Busulfan Better Than TBI in Pre-Transplant Conditioning
October 2013Bredeson C, et al. Blood - Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) patients conditioned with intravenous busulfan (IV-BU) have better outcomes than those receiving total body irradiation (TBI), according to results of a prospective cohort study of 1,483 patients transplanted for myeloid malignancies. -
Immune-Modulating Drugs, Hypomethylating Agents to Treat Relapse
October 2013Kröger N, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - This review summarizes the current knowledge and potential use of immune-modulating drugs and hypomethylating agents in preventing or treating relapse after allogeneic HCT. -
Comparable Survival in Cord Blood and Adult Donor HCT for ALL
October 2013Marks DI, et al. Haematologica - A study of 802 adults transplanted for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in first or second complete remission has found comparable outcomes using three different unrelated donor graft sources. -
Review: How I Treat SCID
October 2013Gaspar HB, et al. Blood - In this installment of the “How I Treat” series in the journal Blood, Dr. H. Bobby Gaspar and colleagues describe their treatment algorithms for pediatric patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). -
Meta-Analysis: HCT Does Not Affect Cognitive Functioning in Adults
October 2013Phillips KM, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - A meta-analysis of 11 studies on HCT and cognitive functioning has found that cognitive functioning does not significantly change following HCT. -
Report: HCT Trends in Europe
September 2013Passweg JR, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - This survey of HCT practices in Europe in 2011 collected data on 13,470 allogeneic transplants and 18,605 autologous transplants at 651 transplant centers. -
QOL More than 20 Years After HCT for Thalassemia
September 2013La Nasa G, et al. Blood - The long-term health-related quality of life (QOL) of beta-thalassemia patients who underwent allogeneic transplantation is similar to that of the general population, according to a study of 109 patients transplanted in the 1980s and 1990s.
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Better HCT Outcomes with Younger Unrelated Donors vs. Older Related Donors
September 2013Ayuk F, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - In this retrospective study of 168 patients with acute myeloid leukemia in complete remission who underwent allogeneic HCT, five-year survival was significantly higher using unrelated donors ≤39 years compared to related donors >39 years: 66% vs. 34%, respectively (p=0.001).
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Unrelated Donor HCT is Underused in the United States
September 2013Yao S, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - Unrelated donor HCT is underused in the U.S., according to a study comparing the number of patients transplanted using NMDP donors in 2007 with the estimated number of patients eligible for HCT in the same year.
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Post-HCT Rituximab Prophylaxis Can Reduce Chronic GVHD
September 2013Cutler C, et al. Blood. - In this trial of 65 patients, administering post-transplant rituximab (375 mg/m2 IV) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after transplantation resulted in significantly lower two-year cumulative incidence of systemic corticosteroid-requiring chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) compared to a concurrent control group: 31% vs. 48.5% respectively (p=0.015).
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Report: Prophylaxis and Treatment of GVHD
August 2013Ruutu T, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - A working group formed by the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and European LeukemiaNet has developed recommendations for prophylaxis and treatment of acute and chronic GVHD.
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Lower Chronic GVHD in Double Cord Blood HCT
August 2013Malard F, et al. Leukemia - Double cord blood and 9/10 matched unrelated donor reduced-intensity transplants have similar outcomes, but using cord blood results in a significantly lower incidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), according to a study of 152 patients (median age 53 years) transplanted for hematological malignancies. -
Study Predicts More Than 500,000 HCT Survivors by 2030 in U.S.
August 2013Majhail NS, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - An analysis of 170,628 recipients of autologous and allogeneic HCT reported to CIBMTR between 1968 and 2009 has led researchers to estimate that there will be 242,000 HCT survivors by 2020 and 502,000 HCT survivors by 2030 in the United States. -
Earlier HCT Improves Outcomes in T-cell NHL
August 2013Smith SM, et al. J Clin Oncol - In patients with T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), delaying either autologous or allogeneic HCT results in significantly worse outcomes, according to an analysis of 241 transplants reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research). -
Outcomes for HCT in Patients Over Age 70
July 2013Brunner AM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - Select older patients can undergo HCT, according to results of a study of 54 consecutive patients >70 years undergoing reduced-intensity transplantation between 2007 and 2012 at Massachusetts General Hospital (n=14) or the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (n=40). -
Updated Guidelines on HCT Graft Selection
July 2013Spellman SR, et al. Blood - This article presents updated guidelines on the selection of unrelated donors and cord blood units for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) developed by the NMDP and the CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research). -
Long-Term Follow-Up of HCT Recipients Made Easier
July 2013Majhail NS, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - A summary of the updated screening and preventive practices guidelines for HCT recipients focusing on ways that health care providers can effectively integrate the guidelines into clinical practice. -
Review: Cord Blood Transplant Supported by Third-Party Donor Cells
July 2013Van Besien K, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - This article reviews umbilical cord blood transplantation (CBT) supported by co-infusion of adult CD34+ stem cells from mismatched unrelated donors.
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Comparing Transplant vs. Non-Transplant for De Novo MDS by IPSS Score
July 2013Koreth J, et al. J Clin Oncol - A study of 514 patients between 60-70 years old with de novo myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has shown that for patients with intermediate-2/high International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) scores, a reduced-intensity allogeneic transplant leads to a significantly longer life expectancy (LE) compared to non-transplantation therapies. -
Related, Well-Matched Unrelated HCT Outcomes Comparable in MDS
July 2013Saber W, et al. Blood - Well-matched unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) yields comparable outcomes compared to matched related donor HCT in patients with MDS, according to a study of 701 adult MDS patients transplanted between 2002 and 2006 and reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research).
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Review: HCT for Burkitt lymphoma
July 2013Ahmed SO, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - In this review, the authors examine the role of allogeneic and autologous HCT in the treatment of adults with Burkitt lymphoma (BL).
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Similar Survival Using Sibling, Unrelated Donor, and Cord Blood Grafts in AML
July 2013de Latour RP, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - Reduced-intensity conditioning HCT in patients 50 years and older with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in complete remission has similar outcomes using sibling donors, unrelated donors, and cord blood units.
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Negative Impact of Minimal Residual Disease is Similar for AML in CR1 and CR2
July 2013Walter RB, et al. Blood - A single-center study of 253 consecutive patients with AML has shown that the negative impact of pre-transplant minimal residual disease (MRD) is similar for patients in first and second complete remission (CR1, CR2), and that even minute levels (≤0.1%) are associated with significantly worse outcomes. -
How I Treat Older Patients with ALL
June 2013Gökbuget N. Blood - In this installment of the “How I Treat” series in the journal Blood, Dr. Nicola Gökbuget outlines how improved supportive care, targeted therapies, moderately intensified consolidation, and reduced-intensity hematopoietic cell transplantation have improved outcomes somewhat for older patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). -
Cord Blood HCT: The first 25 Years and Beyond
June 2013Ballen KK, et al. Blood - Although first used only to treat children - due to the low cell dose infused - umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been proven effective in treating adults when cord blood units of sufficient cell dose and HLA match are used.
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Review: Allogeneic HCT for Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma
June 2013Klyuchnikov E, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - In this review article, the authors note that despite overall improvements in outcomes of patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), approximately 30-40% will develop relapsed or refractory disease.
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Significant Improvement in HCT Survival Over Time
June 2013Hahn T, et al. J Clin Oncol - Survival for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has significantly improved over time, according to a study of 38,060 patients with hematologic malignancies transplanted between 1994 and 2005 and reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research).
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Comparable Outcomes in AML/MDS Using Related, Unrelated Donors
May 2013Robin M, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - Matched unrelated or matched sibling donors can lead to comparable transplant survival, according to a single-center research study of 108 patients with AML (n=63) and MDS (n=45). -
To Transplant or Not: Clinical Decisions in Elderly Patients with AML
May 2013Ustun C, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - Although intensive induction chemotherapy can lead to complete remission rates of 40-60% in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), median survival is typically less than 12 months, according to the authors of this review article.
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Review: Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Leukemia
May 2013Buckley SA, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant, Campana D, et al. Br J Haematol - In these two review articles on minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute leukemia, the authors discuss the recent research showing that the likelihood of relapse after transplant is directly associated with levels of MRD before transplant.
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HCT Outcomes Comparable in High- and Standard-Risk Pediatric AML
April 2013Burke MJ, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - In this single-institution study of 50 consecutive pediatric patients (median age 14.9 years) transplanted for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission, high-risk patients and standard-risk patients had comparable survival.
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Long-Term Follow-Up of Caregivers for HCT recipients
April 2013Wulff-Burchfield EM, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - This article provides an overview of the long-term physical and psychosocial issues affecting caregivers: the spouses, partners, and/or children of hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.
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Autologous, Allogeneic, or Chemotherapy for Transformed Follicular Lymphoma
April 2013Villa D, et al. J Clin Oncol - A multicenter cohort study of 172 patients with follicular lymphoma and subsequent biopsy-proven aggressive histology transformation. Twenty-two patients (13%) underwent allogeneic HCT, 97 (56%) underwent autologous transplant, and 53 (31%) received rituximab-containing chemotherapy.
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Emerging Therapies for Chronic Cutaneous GVHD
April 2013Rogers CJ, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - A review article discussing current and emerging therapies for chronic cutaneous GVHD, including extracorporeal photopheresis, and second-line drugs targeting T cells, B cells, and inflammatory cytokines.
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No Clinical Benefit in Adding Radioimmunotherapy to BEAM Conditioning in Autologous HCT for Relapsed DLBCL
March 2013Vose JM, et al. J Clin Oncol — In patients with relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) undergoing autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), adding radioimmunotherapy to the standard BEAM conditioning regimen provides no clinical benefit, according to results from a randomized phase III clinical trial conducted by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN). -
Graft-Versus-Tumor Effects in Advanced Malignancies
March 2013Storb R, et al. J Clin Oncol - A study of a minimal-intensity pre-transplant conditioning regimen consisting of low-dose total body irradiation with or without fludarabine has shown that it can induce strong graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effects leading to lasting remissions in 45% to 75% of patients.
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Allogeneic HCT for Neuroblastoma
March 2013Hale GA, et al. Bone Marrow Transplant - A report on the outcomes of allogeneic HCT in 143 patients with neuroblastoma reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research) in 1990-2007. -
Allogeneic HCT in AML patients in second remission
March 2013Burnett AK, et al. J Clin Oncol - In this study of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 1,271 of 3,919 patients age 16 to 49 years who did not receive a transplant in first complete remission (CR1) relapsed. -
The Myth of CR2 in Adult Acute Leukemia
March 2013Forman SJ, et al. Blood - In this commentary in Blood, Drs. Stephen Forman and Jacob Rowe note that although allogeneic HCT in patients with relapsed acute leukemia in second remission (CR2) can be effective, most patients are not actually able to achieve CR2.
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How I Assess Comorbidities Prior to HCT
February 2013Sorror ML. Blood - Previous studies have shown the prognostic value of the hematopoietic cell transplantation-comorbidity index (HCT-CI), which measures the prevalence and severity of organ impairments in patients considering HCT. -
AZA and DLI for Relapsed AML/MDS After HCT
February 2013Schroeder T, et al. Leukemia - A first salvage therapy combining azacitidine (AZA) with donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) in relapsed transplant recipients has a 30% response rate, according to results of a recent study.
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HCT for Chemorefractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
February 2013Hamadani M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - This study examined 202 adults with chemotherapy-unresponsive mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who underwent allogeneic HCT between 1998 and 2010 and whose outcomes were reported to CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research). -
Risk-Stratified Adoptive Cellular Therapy After HCT for CLL
February 2013Richardson SE, et al. Br J Haematol - This study examined outcomes of 50 consecutive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) transplanted after reduced-intensity conditioning followed by pre-emptive donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) with the intention of reducing the risk of GVHD. -
New Autoimmune Diseases after Cord Blood Transplantation
January 2013Daikeler T, et al. Blood - An analysis of 726 cord blood transplants reported to the European cord blood transplant database has found that the cumulative incidence of autoimmune disease developing post-transplant in these patients was 5.0% at 1 year and 6.6% at 5 years. -
Review: The Role of Sirolimus in GVHD Management
January 2013Abouelnasr A, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant - This review summarizes the mechanisms of action of sirolimus in preventing and treating graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). -
Myeloablative HCT Improves Survival in Younger Adults with ALL in First Remission
January 2013Gupta V, et al. Blood - A meta-analysis combining data from 13 studies including 2,962 adults has shown that allogeneic, but not autologous, hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) improves survival in younger adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in first complete remission.
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Marrow, PBSC Have Comparable Survival; More cGVHD with PBSC
November 2012Anasetti C, et al. N Eng J Med - A phase III, multi-center, randomized trial comparing peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) and bone marrow transplant outcomes has found comparable 2-year survival.
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Lenalidomide after Autologous HCT for Multiple Myeloma Improves Survival
May 2012McCarthy PL, et al. N Eng J Med — Lenalidomide maintenance therapy following autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) results in a significantly longer time to disease progression and significantly improved overall survival among patients with multiple myeloma. -
T Cell-Depletion Yields Low Rates of Chronic GVHD, Relapse in Patients Transplanted for AML
September 2011Devine SM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant – Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) using T cell-depleted grafts can yield low rates of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and relapse in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in first remission (CR1), according to the results of Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) trial 0303. -
Parallel Phase 2 Trials Confirm Utility of Both Haploidentical and Cord Blood HCT
July 2011Brunstein CG, et al. Blood – Two concurrent multi-center phase 2 studies have confirmed the utility of using unrelated double umbilical cord blood (dUCB) or HLA-haploidentical donor bone marrow grafts in reduced-intensity hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).