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Allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) remains the only curative option for patients with advanced chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, outcome is dismal and of short follow-up. The objective of the study was to determine long-term outcome and risk factors in patients with a history of CML Blast Crisis (BC; n = 96) or accelerated phase (n = 51) transplanted between 1990 and 2018. At transplant, patients had a median age of 39 (range 7–76) years and were in ≥CP2 (n = 70), in AP (n = 40) or in BC (n = 37) with a diagnosis-HSCT interval of median 1.9 (range 0.3–24.4) years. Overall survival (OS) amounted 34% (95% CI 22–46) and progression-free survival (PFS) 26% (95% CI 16-36) at 15 years. Adverse risk factors for OS and PFS were low CD34+ count in the graft, donor age (>36 years) and BC. Cumulative incidence of Non-Relapse Mortality (NRM) was 28% (95% CI 18–38) and of relapse (RI) 43% (95% CI 33–53) at 15 years. PB-HSCT and HSCT after 2008 were favorable prognostic factors for NRM, while family donor and patient age >39 years were independently associated with higher RI. HSCT resulted in long-term OS in patients with advanced CML. OS was improved in non-BC patients, with donors ≤36 years and with higher CD34+ dose in the graft.

Acute and chronic steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease (srGVHD) is a life-threatening complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation. There are a number of reports on case series describing efficacy of ruxolitinib in both acute and chronic srGVHD. We conducted a prospective study (NCT02997280) in 75 patients with srGVHD (32 acute, 43 chronic, 41 adults, and 34 children). Patients with chronic GVHD had severe disease in 83% of cases, and acute GVHD patients had grade III–IV disease in 66% of cases. The overall response rate (ORR) was 75% (95% CI 57–89%) in acute GVHD and 81% (95% CI 67–92%) in chronic. Overall survival was 59% (95% CI 49–74%) in acute group and 85% (95% CI 70–93%). The major risk factors for lower survival were grade III–IV gastrointestinal involvement (29% vs 93%, p = 0.0001) in acute form and high disease risk score in chronic (65% vs 90%, p = 0.038). Toxicity was predominantly hematologic with 79% and 44% of grade III–IV neutropenia in acute and chronic groups, respectively. There was no difference between adults and children in terms of ORR (p = 0.31, p = 0.35), survival (p = 0.44, p = 0.12) and toxicity (p > 0.93). The study demonstrated that ruxolitinib is an effective option in acute and chronic srGVHD and can be used both in adults and children.

The predictive value of graft composition and plasma biomarkers on the outcome of allogeneic HSCT is well known for conventional GVHD prophylaxis based on calcineurin inhibitors with or without antithymocyte globulin. Currently, there is limited data whether these results could be translated to post transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy). The prospective extension cohort of NCT02294552 trial enrolled 79 adult patients with acute leukemia in CR. Twenty-six received matched-related bone marrow (BM) grafts with single-agent PTCy and 53 received unrelated peripheral blood stem cell graft (PBSC) with PTCy, tacrolimus, and MMF. The grafts were studied by the flow cytometry, and plasma samples were analyzed by ELISA. In the cluster and major component analysis, we determined that transplantation from donors with high content of CD3, NKT, and CD16-CD56 + subpopulations in the PBSC grafts was associated with poor immunological recovery and compromised event-free survival (50% vs. 80%, HR 2.93, p = 0.015) both due to increased relapse incidence and non-relapse mortality. The significant independent predictor of moderate and severe chronic GVHD was the high prevalence of and iNKT, Vβ11, and double-positive cells in the PBSC grafts from young donors (HR 2.75, p = 0.0483). No patterns could be identified for BM grafts and for plasma biomarkers.