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Haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcomas: results of a single-center prospective trial

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 53, pages 891–894 (2018)Cite this article

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The prognosis of patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS) such as rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), Ewing sarcoma (ES), or synovial sarcoma (SS) has improved dramatically in recent decades [1, 2]. However, patients with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis or with certain histological subtypes (e.g., alveolar RMS (aRMS)) still face a poor prognosis [2,3,4]. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are required for these patients.

Haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been proposed as a potentially curative therapy for pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed solid malignancies due to its presumable graft-versus-tumor (GvT) effect [5]. Indeed, various preliminary clinical studies indicated a potential GvT effect in patients with metastatic and relapsed ES [6], neuroblastoma [5, 7], and hepatoblastoma [8], accompanied by moderate treatment-related toxicity. Furthermore, rapid platelet and particularly rapid leukocyte recovery following haploidentical allogeneic HSCT suggest potent antitumor responses provided by the newly established donor-derived immune system [5]. However, retrospective analyses in pediatric STS patients found no benefit from non-haploidentical allogeneic HSCT in high-risk STS [9, 10].

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Author contributions

MM, MTM, ER, AJ, JS, AW, SH, CC, MB, ES-M, TK, CR, BK, BS, EK, TK, and PB collected, analyzed and interpreted the data. MM, MTM, ER, and PB wrote the manuscript. ER, AJ, JS, AW, TK, CR, BK, BS, EK, TK, and PB enrolled and cared for the patients.

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  1. Michael Merker and Michael Torsten Meister contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Stem Cell Transplantation and Immunology, Department of Children and Adolescents, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

    Michael Merker, Michael Torsten Meister, Eva Rettinger, Andrea Jarisch, Jan Soerensen, Andre Willasch, Sabine Huenecke, Claudia Cappel, Melanie Bremm, Emilia Salzmann-Manrique, Thomas Klingebiel & Peter Bader

  2. Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Saarland University Hospital, Homburg/Saar, Germany

    Thomas Krenn

  3. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Children’s Hospital, Münster, Germany

    Claudia Rossig

  4. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Children’s Hospital, University of Duisburg, Essen, Germany

    Bernhard Kremens

  5. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Olgahospital Children’s Hospital, Stuttgart, Germany

    Ewa Koscielniak

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Correspondence to Peter Bader.

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Merker, M., Meister, M.T., Rettinger, E. et al. Haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcomas: results of a single-center prospective trial. Bone Marrow Transplant 53, 891–894 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-018-0088-6

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