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Item does not contain fulltext This study shows the long-term updated outcomes of a multicenter retrospective study which analyzed 843 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who underwent transplantation with an HLA-identical sibling donor with either reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) in 213 patients, or standard myeloablative conditioning (MAC) in 630 patients. In multivariate analysis, the 13-year relapse rate was significantly increased after RIC (31% after MAC vs 48% in RIC; HR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1-1.9; P=0.04), but with no differences in overall survival (OS) (30% after MAC vs 27% in RIC; P=0.4) and PFS (29 vs 21%, respectively, P=0.3). Non-relapse mortality was higher in MAC (40 vs 31%; P=0.1), especially in patients older than 50 years (50 vs 33%, P

Allogeneic hematopoietic transplantation is increasingly used in patients aged 55 years or more with AML. The question of whether outcomes can be improved with an allele-level 8/8 HLA-matched unrelated donor (MUD) rather than an older HLA-matched sibling (MSD, more than 55 years) is still unanswered. We thus analyzed outcomes in 714 patients aged 55 years and older with AML in first CR (CR1) who received PBSCs after a reduced-intensity conditioning hematopoietic cell transplant from a MUD (n=310) or a MSD (n=404) in a recent period (2005-2010). The 3-year cumulative incidences (CIs) of non-relapse mortality were 17% and 23% with MSD and MUD, respectively (P=0.17). The 3-year CIs of relapse were 37% and 30%, respectively (P=0.12), resulting in a 3-year CI of leukemia-free survival of 46% and 47%, respectively (P=0.51). The 3-year overall survival was 49% with both MSD and MUD. In conclusion, HLA-identical sibling donors aged 55 years or more should not be excluded because of age for patients aged 55 years and older with AML in CR1.

This report investigated the impact of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) on transplantation outcomes in 1859 acute myeloid leukemia patients given allogeneic peripheral blood stem cells after reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC allo-SCT). Grade I acute GVHD was associated with a lower risk of relapse (hazards ratio (HR) 0.7, P = 0.02) translating into a trend for better overall survival (OS; HR 1.3; P = 0.07). Grade II acute GVHD had no net impact on OS, while grade III-IV acute GVHD was associated with a worse OS (HR 0.4, P < 0.0.001) owing to high risk of nonrelapse mortality (NRM; HR 5.2, P < 0.0001). In time-dependent multivariate Cox analyses, limited chronic GVHD tended to be associated with a lower risk of relapse (HR 0.72; P = 0.07) translating into a better OS (HR 1.8; P < 0.001), while extensive chronic GVHD was associated with a lower risk of relapse (HR 0.65; P = 0.02) but also with higher NRM (HR 3.5; P < 0.001) and thus had no net impact on OS. In-vivo T-cell depletion with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) or alemtuzumab was successful at preventing extensive chronic GVHD (P < 0.001), but without improving OS for ATG and even with worsening OS for alemtuzumab (HR 0.65; P = 0.001). These results highlight the role of the immune-mediated graft-versus-leukemia effect in the RIC allo-SCT setting, but also the need for improving the prevention and treatment of severe GVHD. Leukemia (2012) 26, 2462-2468; doi: 10.1038/leu.2012.135

Financial disclosure: The authors have nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report. REFERENCE 1. Mediaville C, Vigouroux S, Tabrizi R, et al. Transient grades 3 to 4 acute hepatitis is a common complication of rabbit antithymocyte globulin (Thymoglobulin) administered before allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2015;21:661-665.