Home Hematology and Oncology Peripheral Blood Haplo-SCT Feasible for Leukemia Patients 70 Years and Older

Peripheral Blood Haplo-SCT Feasible for Leukemia Patients 70 Years and Older

Haploidentical stem cell transplantation using nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen effective in highly selected patients

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML)/myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) aged 70 years and older, haploidentical stem cell transplantation (Haplo-SCT) using a nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen (NMAC) is feasible, with no early nonrelapse mortality (NRM), according to a study published online Nov. 3 in Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Samia Harbi, M.D., from the Institut Paoli-Calmettes in Marseille, France, and colleagues reported a single-center experience of peripheral blood Haplo-SCT with NMAC and posttransplantation cyclophosphamide in 50 patients aged 70 years and older with AML and MDS (27 and 23, respectively). Twenty-four percent of the patients had active disease at Haplo-SCT.

The researchers found that the cumulative incidence was 6 and 25 percent for grade 3 to 4 acute and moderate-to-severe chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), respectively. At day +100, NRM was 0 percent. At three years, NRM, relapse, progression-free survival, and overall survival were 16, 18, 66, and 69 percent, respectively. Eighty-eight percent of patients who were disease-free at two years after Haplo-SCT were living without immunosuppressive treatment.

“We conclude that in highly selected patients ≥70 years, NMAC Haplo-SCT with peripheral blood stem cell and posttransplantation cyclophosphamide is very well tolerated and allowed long-term survival in AML or MDS patients without persistent chronic GVHD,” the authors write.

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