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Transplant Toxicities

Clinical significance of pretransplant serum ferritin on the outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic SCT: a prospective cohort study by the Kanto Study Group for Cell Therapy

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Abstract

This prospective study aimed to investigate the influence of pretransplant serum ferritin levels on the outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT). In total, 190 patients with acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome were consecutively enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups: low-ferritin group (<1000 ng/mL) and high-ferritin group (1000 ng/mL). The primary end point was the cumulative incidence of infection within 100 days after HSCT, which was similar between the two groups: bloodstream infection, 35 vs 38%, P=0.65; bacterial infection, 44 vs 41%, P=0.68; and fungal infection, 6 vs 8%, P=0.71. The 1-year adjusted probability of OS of the high-ferritin group was significantly lower than that of the low-ferritin group (76 vs 63%, P=0.017). Using receiver operating characteristic curve, the threshold of pretransplant serum ferritin levels for bloodstream infection was 1400 ng/mL; the threshold for OS, EFS and non-relapse mortality was 1349 ng/mL. In conclusion, pretransplant serum ferritin levels of 1000 ng/mL did not influence the incidence of infection but adversely affected OS after HSCT. A higher threshold of pretransplant serum ferritin levels may predict HSCT outcomes.

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Correspondence to M Tanaka.

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Author Contributions

MT and HK designed the study. MT prepared and analyzed data. MT had primary responsibility for drafting the manuscript. KM, TT, AN, KO, TK, CN, YK, EY, SF, JO, T Sakura, NA, MO, SM, JK, KU, RW, JT, SY, T Saito, ST, HS and SO interpreted data and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors contributed equally to the interpretation of data, manuscript preparation and approval of the final report.

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Tanaka, M., Kanamori, H., Matsumoto, K. et al. Clinical significance of pretransplant serum ferritin on the outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic SCT: a prospective cohort study by the Kanto Study Group for Cell Therapy. Bone Marrow Transplant 50, 727–733 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2015.17

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