Abstract
In the current study, we evaluated a combination of tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) as GvHD prophylaxis in 50 patients undergoing truly nonmyeloablative (NM; 90 mg/m2 fludarabine, 2 Gy TBI) hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) from unrelated donors. Median patient age was 51 years (range, 25–67 years). After a median follow-up of 1123 days (range, 47–2729 days), 20 patients (40%) are alive and free from disease. The probabilities of 1-, 2- and 3-year survival were 57, 47 and 39%, respectively. Patients who achieved a remission before HSCT had a significantly better OS compared with those who had active disease (P=0.01). The incidences of grade II–IV and III–IV acute GvHD (aGvHD) were 54% (n=27) and 16% (n=8). Remarkably, using tacrolimus and MMF, the median onset of aGvHD occurred distinctly late on day +66 (range, 12–119 days). A total of 46 patients were evaluable for chronic GvHD (cGvHD). Out of these, 26 (56%) patients developed cGvHD, with 16 (34%) of them showing limited and 10 (21%) showing extensive disease. We conclude that the combination of tacrolimus and MMF as post transplant immunosuppression for patients receiving NM unrelated donor HSCT permits stable engraftment and effective prophylaxis for acute and cGvHD. In particular, the occurrence of severe early-onset aGvHD was attenuated.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baron F, Storb R . Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation following nonmyeloablative conditioning as treatment for hematologic malignancies and inherited blood disorders. Mol Ther 2006; 13: 26–41.
Hurley CK, Baxter Lowe LA, Logan B, Karanes C, Anasetti C, Weisdorf D et al. National marrow donor program HLA-matching guidelines for unrelated marrow transplants. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2003; 9: 610–615.
Davies SM, Kollman C, Anasetti C, Antin JH, Gajewski J, Casper JT et al. Engraftment and survival after unrelated-donor bone marrow transplantation: a report from the national marrow donor program. Blood 2000; 96: 4096–4102.
Lee SJ, Klein J, Haagenson M, Baxter-Lowe LA, Confer DL, Eapen M et al. High-resolution donor-recipient HLA matching contributes to the success of unrelated donor marrow transplantation. Blood 2007; 110: 4576–4583.
Cutler C, Li S, Ho VT, Koreth J, Alyea E, Soiffer RJ et al. Extended follow-up of methotrexate-free immunosuppression using sirolimus and tacrolimus in related and unrelated donor peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Blood 2007; 109: 3108–3114.
Baron F, Maris MB, Sandmaier BM, Storer BE, Sorror M, Diaconescu R et al. Graft-versus-tumor effects after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with nonmyeloablative conditioning. J Clin Oncol 2005; 23: 1993–2003.
Goldman JM, Gale RP, Horowitz MM, Biggs JC, Champlin RE, Gluckman E et al. Bone marrow transplantation for chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase. Increased risk for relapse associated with T-cell depletion. Ann Intern Med 1988; 108: 806–814.
Martin PJ, Clift RA, Fisher LD, Buckner CD, Hansen JA, Appelbaum FR et al. HLA-identical marrow transplantation during accelerated-phase chronic myelogenous leukemia: analysis of survival and remission duration. Blood 1988; 72: 1978–1984.
Burroughs LM, O’Donnell PV, Sandmaier BM, Storer BE, Luznik L, Symons HJ et al. Comparison of outcomes of HLA-matched related, unrelated, or HLA-haploidentical related hematopoietic cell transplantation following nonmyeloablative conditioning for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2008; 14: 1279–1287.
Devetten MP, Hari PN, Carreras J, Logan BR, van Besien K, Bredeson CN et al. Unrelated donor reduced-intensity allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2009; 15: 109–117.
Georges GE, Maris MB, Maloney DG, Sandmaier BM, Sorror ML, Shizuru JA et al. Nonmyeloablative unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation to treat patients with poor-risk, relapsed, or refractory multiple myeloma. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2007; 13: 423–432.
Maris MB, Sandmaier BM, Storer BE, Chauncey T, Stuart MJ, Maziarz RT et al. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation after fludarabine and 2 Gy total body irradiation for relapsed and refractory mantle cell lymphoma. Blood 2004; 104: 3535–3542.
Rezvani AR, Storer B, Maris M, Sorror ML, Agura E, Maziarz RT et al. Nonmyeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in relapsed, refractory, and transformed indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. J Clin Oncol 2008; 26: 211–217.
Sorror ML, Storer BE, Sandmaier BM, Maris M, Shizuru J, Maziarz R et al. Five-year follow-up of patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation after nonmyeloablative conditioning. J Clin Oncol 2008; 26: 4912–4920.
Niederwieser D, Maris M, Shizuru JA, Petersdorf E, Hegenbart U, Sandmaier BM et al. Low-dose total body irradiation (TBI) and fludarabine followed by hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from HLA-matched or mismatched unrelated donors and postgrafting immunosuppression with cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) can induce durable complete chimerism and sustained remissions in patients with hematological diseases. Blood 2003; 101: 1620–1629.
Storb R, Yu C, Barnett T, Wagner JL, Deeg HJ, Nash RA et al. Stable mixed hematopoietic chimerism in dog leukocyte antigen-identical littermate dogs given lymph node irradiation before and pharmacologic immunosuppression after marrow transplantation. Blood 1999; 94: 1131–1136.
Maris MB, Niederwieser D, Sandmaier BM, Storer B, Stuart M, Maloney D et al. HLA-matched unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation after nonmyeloablative conditioning for patients with hematologic malignancies. Blood 2003; 102: 2021–2030.
Nieto Y, Patton N, Hawkins T, Spearing R, Bearman SI, Jones RB et al. Tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil after nonmyeloablative matched-sibling donor allogeneic stem-cell transplantations conditioned with fludarabine and low-dose total body irradiation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2006; 12: 217–225.
Goto T, Kino T, Hatanaka H, Nishiyama M, Okuhara M, Kohsaka M et al. Discovery of FK-506, a novel immunosuppressant isolated from Streptomyces tsukubaensis. Transplant Proc 1987; 19 (5 Suppl 6): 4–8.
Kino T, Hatanaka H, Miyata S, Inamura N, Nishiyama M, Yajima T et al. FK-506, a novel immunosuppressant isolated from a Streptomyces. II. Immunosuppressive effect of FK-506 in vitro. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 1987; 40: 1256–1265.
Przepiorka D, Weisdorf D, Martin P, Klingemann HG, Beatty P, Hows J et al. 1994 Consensus Conference on Acute GVHD Grading. Bone Marrow Transplant 1995; 15: 825–828.
Sullivan KM, Agura E, Anasetti C, Appelbaum F, Badger C, Bearman S et al. Chronic graft-versus-host disease and other late complications of bone marrow transplantation. Semin Hematol 1991; 28: 250–259.
Kanda Y, Izutsu K, Hirai H, Sakamaki H, Iseki T, Kodera Y et al. Effect of graft-versus-host disease on the outcome of bone marrow transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling donor using GVHD prophylaxis with cyclosporin A and methotrexate. Leukemia 2004; 18: 1013–1019.
Hiraoka A, Ohashi Y, Okamoto S, Moriyama Y, Nagao T, Kodera Y et al. Phase III study comparing tacrolimus (FK506) with cyclosporine for graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 2001; 28: 181–185.
Nash RA, Antin JH, Karanes C, Fay JW, Avalos BR, Yeager AM et al. Phase 3 study comparing methotrexate and tacrolimus with methotrexate and cyclosporine for prophylaxis of acute graft-versus-host disease after marrow transplantation from unrelated donors. Blood 2000; 96: 2062–2068.
Ratanatharathorn V, Nash RA, Przepiorka D, Devine SM, Klein JL, Weisdorf D et al. Phase III study comparing methotrexate and tacrolimus (prograf, FK506) with methotrexate and cyclosporine for graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis after HLA-identical sibling bone marrow transplantation. Blood 1998; 92: 2303–2314.
Mielcarek M, Storer BE, Sandmaier BM, Sorror ML, Maloney DG, Petersdorf E et al. Comparable outcomes after nonmyeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation with unrelated and related donors. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2007; 13: 1499–1507.
McSweeney PA, Niederwieser D, Shizuru JA, Sandmaier BM, Molina AJ, Maloney DG et al. Hematopoietic cell transplantation in older patients with hematologic malignancies: replacing high-dose cytotoxic therapy with graft-versus-tumor effects. Blood 2001; 97: 3390–3400.
Mielcarek M, Burroughs L, Leisenring W, Diaconescu R, Martin PJ, Sandmaier BM et al. Prognostic relevance of ‘early-onset’ graft-versus-host disease following non-myeloablative haematopoietic cell transplantation. Br J Haematol 2005; 129: 381–391.
Burroughs L, Mielcarek M, Leisenring W, Sandmaier BM, Maloney DG, Baron F et al. Extending postgrafting cyclosporine decreases the risk of severe graft-versus-host disease after nonmyeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation. Transplantation 2006; 81: 818–825.
Alvarez I, Sureda A, Caballero MD, Urbano-Ispizua A, Ribera JM, Canales M et al. Nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation is an effective therapy for refractory or relapsed hodgkin lymphoma: results of a spanish prospective cooperative protocol. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2006; 12: 172–183.
de Lima M, Anagnostopoulos A, Munsell M, Shahjahan M, Ueno N, Ippoliti C et al. Nonablative versus reduced-intensity conditioning regimens in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome: dose is relevant for long-term disease control after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Blood 2004; 104: 865–872.
Acknowledgements
We thank the staff of the stem cell transplant units KMT and ME10, as well as the staff of the outpatient clinic, for continuous, outstanding patient care and are in debt to the excellent staff of the transplant laboratory.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
Dr Kobbe received research funding and lecture fees from Astellas and Novartis.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zohren, F., Schroeder, T., Czibere, A. et al. Tacrolimus and mycofenolate mofetil as GvHD prophylaxis following nonmyeloablative conditioning and unrelated hematopoietic SCT for adult patients with advanced hematologic diseases. Bone Marrow Transplant 46, 747–755 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2010.167
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2010.167
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Acute GVHD prophylaxis with standard-dose, micro-dose or no MTX after fludarabine/melphalan conditioning
Bone Marrow Transplantation (2014)
-
Intensification of GVHD prophylaxis with low-dose ATG-F before allogeneic PBSC transplantation from HLA-identical siblings in adult patients with hematological malignancies: results from a retrospective analysis
Bone Marrow Transplantation (2012)
-
Mycophenolate mofetil: fully utilizing its benefits for GvHD prophylaxis
International Journal of Hematology (2012)