Graft Failure In Reduced Intensity Conditioning Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Authors: Olsson Richard , Berggren Daniel Moreno , Ringden Olle , Mattsson Jonas , Remberger Mats 
Published: October 2019

A decade ago reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) was successfully introduced to facilitate transplantation in patients with co-morbidities. In contrast to myeloablative conditioning regimens RIC transplants are associated with less toxicity and thus preferred in the elderly population. However, there are also disadvantages with RIC such as the increased risk of graft failure caused by rejection by remnant recipient T-cells at transplant, which often results in mixed chimerism during the first months post-transplant. Here, we present risk factors for graft failure in all first RIC allo-HSCTs performed at our center from 1995 to mid-2010 (n=357). Graft failure was defined as >95% recipient T-cells any time after engraftment or reinfusion of donor cells due to >50% recipient cells with no clinical or laboratory signs of relapse. Thirty-six patients (10%) experienced graft failure. The median age of the patients was 51 and 57% were males. In univariate analysis, graft failure was 3-fold increased in male compared to female patients (15% versus 4%; P<0.01). Furthermore, patients with non-malignant disorders (26% versus 2%; P<0.01) and solid tumors (20% vs. 2%; P<0.01) had an increased risk of graft failure when compared to acute leukemia. Graft versus host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis using cyclosporine A (CSA) in combination with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) resulted in increased numbers of graft failure when compared to our standard regimen with CSA and methotrexate (18% vs. 5%; P<0.01). The graft failure rate was the lowest among HLA-identical sibling donors (6%), slightly higher in 8/8 matched unrelated donors (10%), and the highest in 6/6 matched unrelated donors (18%; P<0.01). Total nucleated cell (TNC) dose was also important with less graft failures when the TNC dose was >10 x 108/kg, whereas CD34+ cell dose had no impact on graft failure (P=0.15). Moreover, in univariate analyses year of transplant, donor sex, cell source, CMV mismatch, ABO mismatch, or pre-planned G-CSF did not influence graft failure rates (P>0.05). In multivariate analysis (Table 1), solid tumors were associated with markedly increased risk of graft failure (RR=10.95; P=0.03), whereas there was a tendency towards increased graft failure risk in non-malignant disorders (RR=8.01; P=0.05). Graft failures were also increased in male recipients (RR=3.27; P<0.01), in grafts with a TNC dose less than 10 x 108/kg (RR=2.17; P=0.03), when using MMF containing GVHD prophylaxis (RR=3.61; P<0.01), and in transplants with HLA match less than 8/8 (RR=4.94; P<0.01). In conclusion, graft failure is augmented in male recipients, and associated with diseases which usually do not receive high-dose chemotherapy pre-transplant such as solid tumors. HLA mismatch as well as TNC dose and GVHD prophylaxis were also important risk factors for graft failure in the present study.Table 1Multivariate analysis of risk factors for graft failure in reduced intensity conditioning allo-HSCT.CharacteristicsNRR95% CIP-valueNo of patients357Recipient sexFemale1531Male2043.271.35-7.93<0.01DiseaseAcute leukemiaa661CML276.810.70-66.310.10CLL225.380.55-52.630.15Lymphoma361.540.10-24.830.76MDS324.260.38-47.190.24MPD187.400.67-82.360.10Multiple myeloma2300-82.361Aplastic anemia382.540.25-26.210.43Non-malignant disorders348.010.96-66.800.05Solid tumors6110.951.34-89.170.03HLA matchHLA-identical sibling1561Unrelated donor 6/6454.941.84-13.24<0.01Unrelated donor 8/81232.160.90-5.180.09Other matched300-13.241Other mismatched303.301.18-9.240.02Total nucleated cell dose (x108/kg)0-58615-10920.540.24-1.220.1410-14870.370.15-0.940.04>14870.240.08-0.750.01GVHD profylaxisCSA+MTX2401CSA+Pred142.160.63-7.400.22CSA+MMF403.611.38-9.44<0.01Fk 506 +Rapamune451.320.43-4.080.63Other176.242.27-17.16<0.01aAML (n=60) and ALL (n=6).

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No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.