Immune Reconstitution following Myeloablative Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: The Impact of Expanding CD28negative CD8+ T Cells on Relapse

AbstractAllogeneic stem cell transplantation has become standard therapy for hematologic malignancies through the positive immunologic graft-versus-leukemia effect. Initial immune recovery relies on peripheral expansion of infused T cells, which switch to a memory-like phenotype. This study prospectively investigated whether changes in subset composition precedes complications after myeloablative HLA-matched transplantation for hematologic malignancies. Of 80 allograft recipients, 18 were still free of clinical complication throughout 395 to 1564 days of follow-up. Compared with this complication-free subgroup, patients who developed chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) without relapsing recovered similar numbers of circulating T cells with predominance of CD8+ T cells lacking CC-chemokine receptor-7 and CD28 expression throughout the first year after transplantation. Conversely, poor CD8+ T cell recovery with diminished numbers of CD28neg CD8+ T cells (∼1/4th of that of relapse-free patients) preceded occurrence of malignant relapse. In multivariate analysis, lower CD28neg CD8+ T cell counts by day 60 postallograft were associated with a greater risk of subsequent relapse (hazard ratio [HR] 0.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.14-0.76; P = .01). Enumeration of CD28neg CD8+ T cells in patients could assist in predicting risk of relapse and help build an algorithm for accelerating the immune recovery by reducing the immunosuppressive treatment and considering the introduction of preemptive donor lymphocyte infusions

The promising efficacy of a risk-based letermovir use strategy in CMV-positive allogeneic hematopoietic cell recipients.

International audienceLetermovir is the first approved drug for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection prophylaxis in adult patients who are CMV positive undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Because CMV infection risk varies from patient to patient, we evaluated whether a risk-based strategy could be effective. In this single-center study, all consecutive adult patients who were CMV positive and underwent allo-HCT between 2015 and 2021 were included. During period 1 (2015-2017), letermovir was not used, whereas during period 2 (2018-2021), letermovir was used in patients at high risk but not in patients at low risk, except in those receiving corticosteroids. In patients at high risk, the incidence of clinically significant CMV infection (csCMVi) in period 2 was lower than that in period 1 (P < .001) by week 14 (10.5% vs 51.6%) and week 24 (16.9% vs 52.7%). In patients at low risk, although only 28.6% of patients received letermovir in period 2, csCMVi incidence was also significantly lower (P = .003) by week 14 (7.9% vs 29.0%) and week 24 (11.2% vs 33.3%). Among patients at low risk who did not receive letermovir (n = 45), 23 patients (51.1%) experienced transient positive CMV DNA without csCMVi, whereas 17 patients (37.8%) experienced negative results. In both risk groups, the 2 periods were comparable for CMV disease, overall survival, progression-free survival, relapse, and nonrelapse mortality. We concluded that a risk-based strategy for letermovir use is an effective strategy which maintains the high efficacy of letermovir in patients at high risk but allows some patients at low risk to not use letermovir

Empiric versus pre-emptive antifungal strategy in high-risk neutropenic patients on fluconazole prophylaxis: a randomized trial of the European organization for Research and Treatment of cancer (EORTC 65091).

peer reviewedBACKGROUND: Empiric antifungal therapy is considered the standard-of-care for high-risk neutropenic patients with persistent fever. The impact of a pre-emptive, diagnostic-driven approach based on galactomannan (GM) screening and chest CT-scan on demand on survival and on the risk of invasive fungal disease (IFD) during the first weeks of high-risk neutropenia is unknown. METHODS: Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients were randomly assigned to receive caspofungin empirically (Arm A) or pre-emptively (Arm B). All patients received fluconazole 400 mg daily as prophylaxis. The primary endpoint of this non-inferiority study was overall survival (OS) 42 days after randomization. RESULTS: Of 556 patients recruited, 549 were eligible: 275 in Arm A, 274 in Arm B. Eighty percent of the patients had AML or MDS requiring high-dose chemotherapy and 93% of them were in first induction phase. At day 42, the OS was not inferior in Arm B (96.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 93.8 - 98.3%) when compared to Arm A (93.1%; 95% CI, 89.3 - 95.5%). The rates of IFDs at day 84 were not significantly different, 7.7% (95%CI, 4.5-10.8%) in Arm B versus 6.6% (95%CI, 3.6-9.5%) in Arm A, respectively. The rate of patients receiving caspofungin was significantly lower in Arm B (27%) than in Arm A (63%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The pre-emptive antifungal strategy was safe for high-risk neutropenic patients given fluconazole as prophylaxis, halving the number of patients receiving antifungals without excess mortality or IFDs

Empiric versus pre-emptive antifungal strategy in high-risk neutropenic patients on fluconazole prophylaxis: a randomized trial of the European organization for Research and Treatment of cancer (EORTC 65091).

Empiric antifungal therapy is considered the standard-of-care for high-risk neutropenic patients with persistent fever. The impact of a pre-emptive, diagnostic-driven approach based on galactomannan (GM) screening and chest CT-scan on demand on survival and on the risk of invasive fungal disease (IFD) during the first weeks of high-risk neutropenia is unknown. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients were randomly assigned to receive caspofungin empirically (Arm A) or pre-emptively (Arm B). All patients received fluconazole 400 mg daily as prophylaxis. The primary endpoint of this non-inferiority study was overall survival (OS) 42 days after randomization. Of 556 patients recruited, 549 were eligible: 275 in Arm A, 274 in Arm B. Eighty percent of the patients had AML or MDS requiring high-dose chemotherapy and 93% of them were in first induction phase. At day 42, the OS was not inferior in Arm B (96.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 93.8 - 98.3%) when compared to Arm A (93.1%; 95% CI, 89.3 - 95.5%). The rates of IFDs at day 84 were not significantly different, 7.7% (95%CI, 4.5-10.8%) in Arm B versus 6.6% (95%CI, 3.6-9.5%) in Arm A, respectively. The rate of patients receiving caspofungin was significantly lower in Arm B (27%) than in Arm A (63%) (p &lt; 0.001). The pre-emptive antifungal strategy was safe for high-risk neutropenic patients given fluconazole as prophylaxis, halving the number of patients receiving antifungals without excess mortality or IFDs