Autograft cellular composition and outcome in NHL patients: results of the prospective multicenter GOA study

Abstract

Autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) is an established treatment option in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In this prospective multicenter study, the effect of infused blood graft cellular composition on post-transplant outcome was analyzed in 129 NHL patients. Higher graft CD34⁺ cell content (>2.5 × 10⁶/kg) correlated with better progression-free survival (PFS) (p=.009) and overall survival (OS) (p=.004). Higher graft CD34⁺CD133⁺CD38^– counts (>0.08 × 10⁶/kg) were also linked with better PFS (p=.03) and OS (p=.004), and these survival benefits retained in multivariate analyses. Higher infused CD3⁺CD4⁺ cell count (>37 × 10⁶/kg) predicted better PFS (p=.013) and OS (p=.007) in multivariate analysis. Autograft cellular composition seems to impact outcome in NHL patients. These observations regarding composition of optimal graft in autologous setting should be validated in an independent patient series or in a randomized study.

Keywords:

• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• autologous stem cell transplantation
• flow cytometry
• graft cellular composition
• outcome

Disclosure statement

Dr. Partanen reports honoraria from Behring and has participated in the Scientific Advisory Board meetings organized by Abbvie. Dr. Valtola has participated Medical Advisory Boards organized by Amgen and Janssen-Cilag and has also received consultancy fees from Amgen, Sanofi and Janssen-Cilag. Dr. Taru Kuittinen has received consultancy fees from Sanofi-Genzyme, BMS, Sanofi, Celgene, Roche, Amgen, Janssen, Pfizer, Leo-Pharma, Sobi, MSD, Takeda, Bayer, Novo Nordisk and Boehringer-Ingelheim. Dr. Jantunen has participated in the Scientific Advisory Boards of Amgen, Takeda, TEVA and Sanofi. Dr. Varmavuo reports consultancy fees from Abbvie, Amgen, Celgene, Janssen-Cilag, Roche, and Sanofi. Other authors declare no competing financial interests.

Additional information

Funding

The GOA study was financially supported by grants from North Savo Hospital District EVO and VTR Funds. The GOA study received also a study grant from Sanofi. Dr. Turunen is grateful for the grants provided by North Savo Hospital District Research Fund, The Finnish Blood Disease Research Foundation, and The Finnish Medical Foundation.