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A prognostic score system in adult T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

Adult T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is highly aggressive with poor prognoses, while hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curable option. However, no transplant-specific prognostic model for adult T-ALL is available. We identified 301 adult T-ALL patients who received HSCT at our hospital between 2010 and 2022. These patients were randomly assigned at a 7:3 ratio to a derivation group of 210 patients and a validation group of 91 patients. Next, we developed a prognostic risk score system for adult T-ALL with HSCT, which we named COMM, including 4 predictors (central nervous system involvement, Non-CR1 (CR2+ or NR) at HSCT, minimal residual disease (MRD) ≥ 0.01% after first induction therapy, and MRD ≥ 0.01% before HSCT). Patients were categorized into three risk groups, low-risk (0), intermediate-risk (1–4), and high-risk (5–12), and their 3-year overall survival (OS) were 87.5% (95%CI, 78–93%), 65.7% (95%CI, 53–76%) and 20% (95%CI, 10–20%; P < 0.001), respectively. The area under the subject operating characteristic curve for 2-, 3- or 5-year OS in the derivation cohort and in the validation cohort were all greater than 0.75. Based on internal validation, COMM score system proved to be a reliable prognostic model that could discriminate and calibrate well. We expect that the first prognostic model in adults T-ALL after HSCT can provide a reference of prognostic consultation for patients and families, and also contribute to future research to develop risk adapted interventions for high-risk populations.

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Fig. 1: Overall survival analysis of adult T-ALL patients following HSCT.
Fig. 2: Risk group-based survival outcomes and cumulative relapse mortality.
Fig. 3: The analysis of the COMM model predictive accuracy, calibration plots, and decision curves for adult T-ALL after HSCT.

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Because these data contain information about the privacy of the study participants, they are not publicly available. Data on the results of the study can be obtained from the corresponding author, Zhang Xiaohui, PhD, MD.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFC2500304), the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82230004), National Natural Science of Foundation of China (No. 81970113) and Capital Health Research and Development of Special (No. 2022-1-4082).

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MYX and XHZ contributed to the study design. MYX, JYZ, XLZ, YH, FRW, YYZ, XDM, and WH collected the data. JYZ, JZW, YW, HC, and YHC performed data analysis. MYX drafted and wrote the manuscript. XYZ, YJC, LPX, KYL, and XJH revised it critically. XHZ conceived and directed the study and revised the manuscript. The final version of the manuscript was critically reviewed and approved by all authors.

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Correspondence to Xiaohui Zhang.

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Xiao, M., Zhou, J., Zhu, X. et al. A prognostic score system in adult T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 59, 496–504 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-024-02211-8

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