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Current use of fecal microbiota transfer in patients with hematologic diseases: a survey on behalf of the Cellular Therapy and Immunobiology Working Party of the EBMT

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 58, pages 1419–1421 (2023)Cite this article

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Despite initial safety concerns being raised for the use of fecal microbiota transfer (FMT) in patients with hematological diseases, increasing experience with this procedure has shown that it is safe and effective in different clinical scenarios. Use of FMT has, indeed, been reported in Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), as well as in the treatment of gut graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and in the eradication of multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB) in both children and adults diagnosed with hematological diseases [1,2,3]. Nevertheless, access to FMT is variable between centers and there is no consensus harmonization regarding the indications, the route of administration, and the type of FMT product used.

Therefore, to explore the availability and use of FMT across hematology departments and to collect more detailed information on FMT procedures, we conducted a survey on behalf of the Cellular Therapy and Immunobiology Working Party (CTIWP) of the EBMT. On August 2022, a questionnaire was sent to all the EBMT centers, to collect the information on FMTs performed between January 2017 and December 2021. Over an 8-week period, three follow-up reminders regarding survey completion were sent. Descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze the responses submitted by participating centers and the distribution of responses according to the questionnaire.

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Fig. 1: Distribution of FMT availability and indications.

Data availability

The final analysis dataset will be available upon specific request to the Working Party Chair.

References

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Acknowledgements

The CTIWP of the EBMT is extremely grateful to clinicians and their teams for the timely completion of this survey. The authors thank the data management and statistical unit of the CTIWP of the EBMT, and the clinical staff and investigators involved in this research. They especially thank the patients who took part.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Hematology and Surgery, Division of Hematology, Federico II University of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Giorgia Battipaglia

  2. EBMT Statistical Unit, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Jarl E. Mooyaart

  3. Dortmunder Centrum für Zelltransplantation (DCZ), Dortmund, Germany

    Ralf Meyer

  4. Sorbonne Université; Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine INSERM UMRs938; Service d’Hématologie Clinique et de Thérapie Cellulaire, Hôpital Saint Antoine, AP-HP, Paris, France

    Mohamad Mohty & Florent Malard

  5. Department of Hematology and Transplantology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

    Alicja Sadowska-Klasa

  6. RM Gorbacheva Research Institute, Pavlov University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Oleg Goloshchapov

  7. IRRCS Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy

    Franco Locatelli

  8. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University Torun, Bydgoszcz, Poland

    Jan Styczynski

  9. Imperial College, London, UK

    Jiri Pavlu

  10. Department of Hematology and Transplantology, Lower Silesian Center of Oncology, Wroclaw, Poland

    Jaroslaw Dybko

  11. Morozov Children’s Hospital, Moscow, Russia

    Gleb Bronin

  12. Comprehensive Cancer Center, Stem Cell Transplantation Unit, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Urpu Salmenniemi

  13. Charles University Hospital, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    Pavel Jindra

  14. EBMT Leiden Study Unit, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Jorinde D. Hoogenboom

  15. Department of Hematology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Jurgen Kuball

  16. Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy

    Annalisa Ruggeri

Authors
  1. Giorgia Battipaglia
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  2. Jarl E. Mooyaart
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  3. Ralf Meyer
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  4. Mohamad Mohty
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  7. Franco Locatelli
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  8. Jan Styczynski
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  9. Jiri Pavlu
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  10. Jaroslaw Dybko
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  11. Gleb Bronin
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  12. Urpu Salmenniemi
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  13. Pavel Jindra
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  14. Jorinde D. Hoogenboom
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  15. Jurgen Kuball
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  16. Annalisa Ruggeri
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  17. Florent Malard
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Contributions

GB, AR, and FM designed the study and built up the survey. JH launched the survey to the centers and collected data. GB wrote the manuscript. JM performed the descriptive analysis. FM, AR, and JK revised the manuscript, and all the authors reviewed its final version. RM, MM, ASK, OG, FL, JS, JP, JD, GB, US, and PJ were the principal investigators among the centers responding to the survey.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giorgia Battipaglia.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Battipaglia, G., Mooyaart, J.E., Meyer, R. et al. Current use of fecal microbiota transfer in patients with hematologic diseases: a survey on behalf of the Cellular Therapy and Immunobiology Working Party of the EBMT. Bone Marrow Transplant 58, 1419–1421 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-023-02115-z

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