Integrating biological HLA-DPB1 mismatch models to predict survival after unrelated hematopoietic cell transplantation

Non peer reviewe

Antibody persistence after pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are at a high risk for infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. A pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) can induce a significant antibody response for some CLL patients. In this study we investigated antibody persistence after PCV7 in patients with CLL. The study material comprised 24 patients with CLL and 8 immunocompetent controls. The median antibody concentrations five years after PCV7 were lower for six pneumococcal serotypes in patients with CLL compared to controls, but the difference was not statistically significant. Depending on the serotype, the percentage of the CLL patients with antibody levels suggested to provide protection against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) varied from 29 to 71% five years after vaccination. This data suggests that PCV could result in antibody persistence at least five years in CLL patients

Predictive Factors for Outcome of First Allogeneic Transplant for Elderly Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in elderly patients is challenging, and while allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloHCT) has established benefits in younger candidates, its use in the elderly can be difficult. We identified 84 ALL patients 70 years or older in the EBMT registry that underwent alloHCT. Our results demonstrate favorable outcome especially in those achieving first complete remission with >50% 2-year OS. AlloHCT appears feasible in select elderly ALL patients. Introduction/Background: The treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in patients older than 70 is extremely challenging with dismal outcome. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloHCT) has seen many advancements in the last decades showing benefits in younger ALL patients, but this treatment modality is decreasingly used with increasing age due to high treatment-related mortality. Patients and Methods: We identified 84 ALL patients 70 to 84 years old allografted In 2002 to 2019 from a matched related (23%), unrelated (58%), haploidentical (17%), or cord blood (2%) donor at EBMT participating centers with a median follow-up of 23 months. Results: The 2-year relapse incidence (RI) and non-relapse mortality were 37% and 28%, respectively, and 2-year leukemia-free survival (LFS), overall survival (OS) and GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) were 35%, 39% and 23%, respectively. The strongest predictor of outcome was disease status at transplant whereby patients in first complete remission (CR1) had >50% 2-year OS, reflected in multivariate analysis (MVA) with significant improvement in RI, LFS, and GRFS (HR 0.23, 0.49, and 0.54, respectively). Furthermore, karnofsky score >= 90 reflective of good functional status positively influenced non-relapse mortality in both univariate and MVA (HR 0.37), and interestingly, donor CMV positivity appeared to negatively affect RI, LFS and OS in univariate analysis and RI in MVA (HR 2.87). Conclusion: Our data suggest that alloHCT is an option for elderly ALL patients, particularly those carefully selected and transplanted in CR1 especially if failed or without access to novel non-chemotherapy-based approaches. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved