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Combining blinatumomab and donor lymphocyte infusion in B-ALL patients relapsing after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: a study of the SFGM-TC

Abstract

Relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) still represents a major concern with poor outcomes. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of blinatumomab and donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) versus blinatumomab alone in this setting. This is a multicenter retrospective study from centers of SFGM-TC. All transplanted patients who received blinatumomab salvage therapy were included. Patients who received DLI from 1 month before to 100 days after the starting of blinatumomab were included in the blina-DLI group. Seventy-two patients were included. Medium follow-up was 38 months. Fifty received blinatumomab alone and 22 the association blinatumomab-DLI. Two-year overall survival (OS) was 31% in the blinatumomab group and 43% in the blinatumomab-DLI group (p = 0.31). Studying DLI as a time dependent variable, PFS did not significantly differ between the 2 groups (HR:0.7, 95% CI: 0.4–1.5). In multivariate analysis, DLI was not a prognostic factor for OS, progression-free survival and progression/relapse incidence. Adverse events and graft-versus-disease rates were comparable in the 2 groups. In conclusion, adding DLI between 1 month before and 100 days after start of blinatumomab is safe and does not seem to improve outcomes in B-ALL patients who relapsed after allo-HCT.

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Fig. 1: Landmark analysis of overall survival.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank SFGM-TC for scientific support, the medical team in each investigator center for their contributions and all the patients for their participation.

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PCha, EB, AP, MLa and IYA designed the study. AP and MLa performed statistical analysis. PCha, EB, AP, MLa and IYA analyzed data. PCha and EB wrote the manuscript. All authors collected data and reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Paul Chauvet or Eolia Brissot.

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PChe has received honoraria from Amgen. The other authors declare no conflict of interest relative to this work.

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Chauvet, P., Paviglianiti, A., Labopin, M. et al. Combining blinatumomab and donor lymphocyte infusion in B-ALL patients relapsing after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: a study of the SFGM-TC. Bone Marrow Transplant 58, 72–79 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-022-01846-9

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