0000000000013834

AUTHOR

Donald Bunjes

Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Acquired Aplastic Anemia: Better Outcome with Bone Marrow as Compared to Peripheral Blood in HLA-Matched Sibling Donor Transplantation and Improved Outcome Over Time After Matched Unrelated Donor Transplantation. A Retrospective Analysis of Transplants Reported to the German Registry for Stem Cell Transplantation (DRST).

Abstract Abstract 876 Background: Transplantation of bone marrow (BM) from a HLA-matched sibling donor is an effective treatment for severe aplastic anemia (AA) with long-term survival in excess of 80%. In the recent years there were two trends in allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) for AA: (1) increasing proportion of transplants performed from matched unrelated donors (MUD) and (2) increasing proportion of transplants using peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBSC) as stem cell source instead of BM. A similar switch to PBSC over BM grafts is reported in leukemia transplants. PBSC grafts for leukemia are associated with higher rates of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). This …

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P046 Deconstructing HLA-C mismatch in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Contrary to other HLA loci, allele vs antigen mismatches in HLA-C appear to differentially impact HSCT outcome. Aim of this study was to investigate the independent role of other factors characterizing a patient’s HLA-C non-shared allele, in HSCT outcome as well as their distribution in allele vs antigen mismatched cases. 288 9/10 HLA-C mismatched unrelated transplant pairs, were additionally genotyped by sequence based typing for rs9264942(C/T) and rs67384697(ins/del), which are considered surrogate markers of HLA-C expression levels. A proxy MFI model as previously described (Petersdorf et al., Blood 2014), was also implemented in the analysis. All patient non-shared alleles were characte…

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Donors with KIR-Bx Haplotypes Improve Outcome of Unrelated Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Recipients with a Myeloid Malignant Disease and a C1 Ligand Phenotype

relapse, or transplant related mortality (TRM) (p1⁄40.2, p1⁄40.1, p1⁄40.08, respectively). To investigate why higher CPSS scores were associated with higher mortality, we performed analysis restricted to patients with relapse following HCT. Those with intermediate-2/high riskhadnearly two-fold increase in riskof death after relapse compared to thosewith low/intermediate1 CPSS scores. Corresponding rates for low/intermediate-1 risk groups,OSat1year, 3years, and5yearswere61%,48%, and44% respectivelyand for intermediate-2/high riskgroupswere 38%, 32%, and19%respectively.OSofpatientswho receivedpre-HCT treatment with hypomethylating agents, chemotherapy, or both was not different compared to th…

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P043 HLA-DPB matching and donor cytomegalovirus positive (CMV+) status: An “unconventional alliance” associated with a decreased relapse incidence in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (UHSCT)

Aim While the role of HLA-DPB1 (DP) compatibility in uHSCT regarding graft versus host disease (GVHD)- and graft versus leukaemia (GVL)-effects has been extensively discussed, its interaction with donor CMV status (dCMV), remains elusive. The aim of this study was, to investigate the impact of dCMV status in DP matched (DPM) and mismatched (DPMM) uHSCT. Methods 1749 HSCT transplant (Tx) pairs were DP genotyped with an exon 2 amplicon based NGS approach in order to assess their DP matching status. CMV sero-status as well as clinical data were retrieved from the German Stem Cell Registry. Overall survival (OS), relapse incidence (RI) and chronic GvHD (cGvHD) were defined as endpoints, while s…

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Sustained Complete Molecular Remissions After Treatment With Imatinib-Mesylate in Patients With Failure After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia: Results of a Prospective Phase II Open-Label Multicenter Study

Purpose In the era of molecular therapy of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) applying BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors, the usefulness of molecular end points, in particular, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for BCR-ABL in monitoring responses has been broadly accepted. Therefore, we have designed a prospective phase II trial in CML, which, for the first time, evaluated the feasibility and safety of molecular end points as surrogate markers to guide through a stratified treatment algorithm within a multicenter trial. Patients and Methods As a clinical model, we adopted minimal residual disease (MRD) found in relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in CML. For…

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Transfer of minimally manipulated CMV-specific T cells from stem cell or third-party donors to treat CMV infection after allo-HSCT.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a common, potentially life-threatening complication following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). We assessed prospectively the safety and efficacy of stem cell-donor-or third-party-donor-derived CMV-specific T cells for the treatment of persistent CMV infections after allo-HSCT in a phase I/IIa trial. Allo-HSCT patients with drugrefractory CMV infection and lacking virus-specific T cells were treated with a single dose of ex vivo major histocompatibility complex-Streptamer-isolated CMV epitope-specific donor T cells. Forty-four allo-HSCT patients receiving a T-cell-replete (D+ repl; n = 28) or T-cell-depleted (D+ depl; n = 16) …

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Impact of Donor Type on Outcome after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients: Analysis of the German-Austrian Acute Myeloid Leukemia Study Group (AMLSG)

Abstract Background:Despite recent advances in identifying novel molecular targets in AML patients, intensive chemotherapy followed by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) still remains a cornerstone of AML therapy. However, outcome of HSCT depends on the availability of a donor and the donor type. Prior studies comparing HSCT from HLA-matched related donors (MRD) with matched unrelated donors (MUD), demonstrated conflicting results with regards to outcome. These conflicting results might be attributed to the genetic heterogeneity of AML. Aims:To analyze outcome with respect to donor type of 952 AML patients who received HSCT in first complete remission (CR) and were tr…

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Chemotherapy-induced mobilization of karyotypically normal PBSC for autografting in CML

High-dose chemotherapy with autologous transplantation of in vivo purged PBSC is a new and interesting therapeutic option for CML patients not eligible for allogeneic transplantation. We investigated the feasibility and toxicity of this approach in 57 patients with Ph-positive CML. For mobilization of Ph-negative PBSC, patients were treated either with '5 + 2/7 + 3'- type chemotherapy or with 'mini-ICE/ICE' chemotherapy followed by administration of G-CSF. Fourteen patients were in early chronic phase, 30 patients in late chronic phase and 13 patients in accelerated phase (AP) or blast crisis (BC). Cytogenetic responses in the PBSC harvests were dependent on both disease stage and type of c…

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Cyclosporin A mediates immunosuppression of primary cytotoxic T cell responses by impairing the release of interleukin 1 and interleukin 2

The site of action of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A in in vitro cytotoxic allograft responses has been localized. General cytotoxic effects of the drug on proliferating T cells became apparent at concentrations of 500-1000 ng/ml, while selective effects were observed at concentrations of 10-100 ng/ml. The selective effects included a blockade of interleukin 2 release from activated T helper cells on the one hand and inhibition of interleukin 1 release from splenic adherent cells on the other. While cyclosporin A did not interfere with the intracellular events required for the activation and subsequent clonal expansion of alloreactive T cells, the lack of interleukin 1 and interle…

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Evaluation of six different types of sequential conditioning regimens for allogeneic stem cell transplantation in relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia – a study of the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the EBMT

The Acute Leukemia Working Party (ALWP) of the EBMT assessed the outcome of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) in patients with relapsed/refractory AML (r/rAML) evaluating six sequential conditioning regimens (SR) groups. A total of 2132 patients were included. LFS at 2 years was 28.9%, 33.6%, 35.3%, 20.6%, 24.4%, and 27% for the FLAMSA-TBI4, FLAMSA-Chemo, Mel-Flu-TBI8, Mel-Treo-Flu, Thio-ETO-Cy-Bu2-Flu, and Clo-ARAC-(Bu2/TBI4)-Cy groups, respectively. In patients55 years of age Mel-Flu-TBI8 had the best LFS, which was statistically significant only in comparison to the Mel-Treo-Flu group, while in patients ≥55 years LFS was best with FLAMSA-Chemo without significant differences…

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The Human Leukocyte Antigen-DPB1 Degree of Compatibility Is Determined by Its Expression Level and Mismatch Permissiveness: A German Multicenter Analysis

T-cell epitope matching according to the TCE3 algorithm classifies HLA-DPB1 mismatches in permissive and non-permissive. This classification has been shown to be predictive for mortality and acute GvHD (aGvHD) events in large international cohorts. We retrospectively genotyped HLA-DPB1 in 3523 patients transplanted in Germany between 2000 and 2014 and in their unrelated donors using an Illumina amplicon-NGS based assay. Aim of the study was to evaluate DP-compatibility beyond the established TCE3 algorithm by assessing the combined effect of several DP-mismatch parameters on post-transplant outcome. We implemented an extended DP-mismatch assessment model where TCE3, DP allotype expression w…

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Influence of molecular subgroups on outcome of acute myeloid leukemia with normal karyotype in 141 patients undergoing salvage allogeneic stem cell transplantation in primary induction failure or beyond first relapse

Based on molecular aberrations, in particular the NPM1 mutation (NPM1(mut)) and the FLT3 internal tandem duplication (Flt3-ITD), prognostic subgroups have been defined among patients with acute myeloid leukemia with normal karyotype. Whereas these subgroups are known to play an important role in outcome in first complete remission, and also in the indication for allogeneic stem cell transplantation, data are limited on their role after transplantation in advanced disease. To evaluate the role of molecular subgroups of acute myeloid leukemia with normal karyotype after allogeneic stem cell transplantation beyond first complete remission, we analyzed the data from 141 consecutive adults (medi…

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High-resolution HLA matching in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a retrospective collaborative analysis.

To validate current donor selection strategies based on previous international studies, we retrospectively analyzed 2646 transplantations performed for hematologic malignancies in 28 German transplant centers. Donors and recipients were high resolution typed for HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1. The highest mortality in overall survival analysis was seen for HLA-A, -B, and DRB1 mismatches. HLA-DQB1 mismatched cases showed a trend toward higher mortality, mostly due to HLA-DQB1 antigen disparities. HLA incompatibilities at >1 locus showed additive detrimental effects. HLA mismatching had no significant effect on relapse incidence and primary graft failure. Graft source had no impact on surviv…

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OR26. Investigating the impact of patient’s non-shared HLA-C Allotype expression levels in A 9/10 Single HLA-C mismatched hematopoieticstem cell transplantationsetting using two different HLA-C Expression proxy models

Aim Petersdorf et al. reported in 2014 an association between patient high expressed HLA-C (C) allotypes and inferior HSCT outcome using an imputed C-expression model (Apps et al., 2013). This study aims at: a) examining the validity of Apps et al. model in Caucasians by using the same methodology in a sample of 400 healthy German blood donors. b) specifically investigating the effect of patient’s non-shared (PNS) C expression levels on outcome by applying C expression imputed data in a 9/10 HLA C-mismatched HSCT setting. Methods Buffy coats from 400 healthy German blood donors were tested by flow cytometry as previously described (Apps et al., 2013) in order to determine C expression on ly…

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Outcome of peripheral blood stem cell mobilization in advanced phases of CML is dependent on the type of chemotherapy applied

High-dose chemotherapy with autologous transplantation of in vivo purged PBSC is a novel investigational approach to treating chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients not responsive to conventional therapy with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and not eligible for allogeneic transplantation. PBSC mobilization using either '5+2/7+3'-type chemotherapy or 'mini-ICE/ ICE' chemotherapy was investigated in 43 patients with advanced phases of Philadelphia (Ph)-positive CML. Thirty patients were in late chronic phase (12 months post diagnosis) and 13 patients in accelerated phase (AP) or blast crisis (BC). Contamination with Ph-positive cells was evaluated in harvests from 37/43 patients. The outcom…

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Impact of Donor Activating KIR Genes on HSCT Outcome in C1-Ligand Negative Myeloid Disease Patients Transplanted with Unrelated Donors-A Retrospective Study.

Natural Killer cells (NK) are lymphocytes with the potential to recognize and lyse cells which escaped T-cell mediated lysis due to their aberrant HLA expression profiles. Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) influence NK-cell activity by mediation of activating or inhibitory signals upon interaction with HLA-C (C1, C2) ligands. Therefore, absence of ligands for donor inhibitory KIRs following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) may have an influence on its outcome. Previous studies showed that C1 negative patients have a decreased HSCT outcome. Our study, based on a cohort of 200 C1-negative patients, confirmed these findings for the endpoints: overall survival (OS: H…

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Increased age-associated mortality risk in HLA-mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

We investigated a possible interaction between age-associated risk and HLA-mismatch associated risk on prognosis in different age categories of recipients of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) (n=3019). Patients over 55 years of age transplanted with 8/10 donors showed a mortality risk of 2.27 (CI 1.70–3.03, P<0.001) and 3.48 (CI 2.49–4.86, P<0.001) when compared to 10/10 matched patients in the same age group and to 10/10 matched patients aged 18–35 years, respectively. Compared to 10/10 matched transplantations within each age category, the Hazards Ratio for 8/10 matched transplantation was 1.14, 1.40 and 2.27 in patients aged 18–35 years, 36–55 and above 55 years. Model…

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Matching for the MICA-129 polymorphism is beneficial in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Major histocompatibility complex class I polypeptide-related sequence A (MICA) is a highly polymorphic ligand of the activating NKG2D receptor on natural killer (NK) cells, γδ-T cells, and NKT cells. MICA incompatibilities have been associated with an increased graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) incidence, and the MICA-129 (met/val) dimorphism has been shown to influence NKG2D signaling in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (uHSCT). We investigated the effect of MICA matching on survival after uHSCT. We sequenced 2172 patients and their respective donors for MICA. All patients and donors were high-resolution HLA-typed and matched for 10/10 (n = 1379), 9/10 (n = 636), or 8/10 (n…

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Human leukocyte antigen-E mismatch is associated with better hematopoietic stem cell transplantation outcome in acute leukemia patients

The immunomodulatory role of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-E in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has not been extensively investigated. To this end, we genotyped 509 10/10 HLA unrelated transplant pairs for HLA-E, in order to study the effect of HLA-E as a natural killer (NK)-alloreactivity mediator on HSCT outcome in an acute leukemia (AL) setting. Overall survival (OS), disease free survival (DFS), relapse incidence (RI) and non-relapse mortality (NRM) were set as endpoints. Analysis of our data revealed a significant correlation between HLA-E mismatch and improved HSCT outcome, as shown by both univariate (53% vs. 38%, P=0.002, 5-year OS) and multivariate (hazard ratio (HR)…

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