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Epidemiology

Prognostic factors for adult single cord blood transplantation among European and Japanese populations: the Eurocord/ALWP-EBMT and JSHCT/JDCHCT collaborative study

Abstract

Large differences in patient and transplant backgrounds make it difficult to identify consistent prognostic factors of unrelated cord blood transplantation (UCBT) among different populations. Thus, we performed a collaborative study between Eurocord/ALWP-EBMT and JSHCT/JDCHCT. Adults with acute leukaemia who underwent a single UCBT were eligible. In total, 3764 and 1027 patients of the JSHCT/JDCHCT and Eurocord/ALWP-EBMT registries, respectively, were included. The median ages of the Japanese and European cohorts were 51 and 38 years, respectively. Three or more HLA mismatches were more frequently observed in the Japanese cohort. The median total nucleated cell (TNC) counts were 2.58 and 3.51 × 107/kg in the Japanese and European cohorts, respectively. Anti-thymocyte globulin was used in only 2% of the Japanese cohort compared with 65% of the European cohort. The 3-year overall survival (OS) was 41% in JSHCT/JDCHCT and 33% in Eurocord/ALWP-EBMT. In the multivariate analysis, TNC dose and HLA matching had no significant effect on OS in either cohort, whereas year of transplantation, age, and refined disease risk index affected OS in both cohorts. Despite considerable differences in characteristics between the Japanese and European cohorts, we observed similar prognostic factors affecting UCBT outcomes in adult patients with acute leukaemia in both registries.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the Practical Research Project for Allergic Diseases and Immunology (Research Technology of Medical Transplantation) from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, AMED (YA and JK) and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 18K08325 (JK).

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Authors

Contributions

JK, HH, YA, and EG designed the research. JK, YA, and EG organized the project. JK, HH, and YA performed the statistical analysis; JK, HH, AR, FK, FV, ST, ML, SKako, SY, VR, SO, AN, YA, and EG interpreted the data; JK, HH, AR, FV, NU, SKato, HK, and YO gathered the data; JK wrote the first draft and all other authors critically reviewed the draft and approved the final version for publication.

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Correspondence to Junya Kanda.

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Conflict of interest

JK reports honoraria from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Celgene K.K., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited., Astellas Pharma Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Pfizer Japan Inc., Kyowa Kirin, and MSD Pharma, outside the submitted work. GS reports grants, honoraria, advisory role, and travel accommodations expenses from Celgene, advisory role from Abbvie, Helsinn Healthcare, Janssen, Roche, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Novartis, and travel accommodations expenses from Takeda and Gilead Sciences, outside the submitted work. EF reports grants from Neovii, outside the submitted work. SKako reports honoraria from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Celgene K.K., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited., Astellas Pharma Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., and Pfizer Japan Inc., outside the submitted work. JS reports and Advisory and Speaker’s Bureau for Novartis, Pfizer, Celgene, Daiichi-Sankyo and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. SY reports grants from Kyowa Kirin, Astellas Pharma, Chugai Pharma, Mochida Pharma, Lilly Pharma, Takeda Pharma, MSD Pharma, Pfizer, Dai Nippon Sumitomo Pharma, and Ono Pharma, outside the submitted work.YA reports honoraria from CHUGAI PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD., Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Ltd, Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, and Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, outside the submitted work. Other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Kanda, J., Hayashi, H., Ruggeri, A. et al. Prognostic factors for adult single cord blood transplantation among European and Japanese populations: the Eurocord/ALWP-EBMT and JSHCT/JDCHCT collaborative study. Leukemia 34, 128–137 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-019-0534-5

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