Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) in Acute Leukemia Patients in Cuba: Current Results and Future Opportunities through International Collaboration

In the majority of low-middle-income countries (LMIC) worldwide, cancer care is limited by lack of patients' access to care and/or unaffordable cost of treatment. In contrast with many other LMIC, Cuban government provides cancer therapy to every citizen. Therefore, any standard treatment for acute leukemias, including BMT, is available for free. However, because of limited financial resources laboratories do not always provide immunophenotypic, cytogenetic or molecular tests to support the diagnosis or the management of leukemias, and only standard chemotherapy protocols are available.

In this retrospective study we analyzed the results of BMT in adult acute leukemia patients transplanted at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital in Havana (Cuba) from June 1986 to January 2016. A total of 101 consecutive cases (83 acute myeloid leukemia [AML] and 18 acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL]) were transplanted. Eligibility criteria for BMT included: age >16 and <60; achievement of morphologic complete remission after induction and consolidation chemotherapy and no severe comorbidities according to standard BMT criteria. Because of lack of access to international donor registries, only patients who had an HLA matched related donor (MRD) received an allogeneic BMT, whereas the others received a further consolidation with an autologous BMT. Stem cell source was fresh bone marrow in 80% of patients, fresh G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood (PBSC) in 19%, and only 1 cord blood transplant was attempted in a patient without a MRD. Of 83 AML patients, 36 received an allogeneic (AML-allo) and 47 an autologous (AML-auto) stem cell transplant. Median age in AML-allo and AML-auto groups was 37 (range:22-54) and 36 (range: 18-58) years, respectively. Median follow-up was 50.4 months (range:1-288) in AML-allo and 50.7 months (range: 1-324) in AML-auto. This is in part due to the policy that patients from outside Havana return to their primary hematologist within 1-2 years after transplant. In addition, some patients left Cuba soon after transplant. Of 36 AML-allo 36% died of transplant-related-mortality (TRM) and 25% of relapse. On the contrary, of 47 AML-auto 17% died of TRM and 40% of relapse. Overall survival (OS) was 38% in AML-allo and 42% in AML-auto. Of 18 ALL patients, 7 received an allogeneic (ALL-allo) and 11 and autologous (ALL-auto) transplant. Median age in the two groups was 36 (range: 18-47) and 27 (range:17-34) years, respectively. Of 7 ALL-allo cases, 1 died of TRM and 3 of relapse (OS 43%). Of 11 ALL-auto cases 4 patients died, all due to relapse (OS 64%). In conclusion, BMT is available for acute leukemia patients in Cuba. Despite limited resources, we envision that through an active collaboration with UIC the BMT program at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital may rapidly expand its activity by developing disease risk assessment through cytogenetic and molecular technologies, implementing cryopreservation of stem cells from PBSC, introducing haploidentical transplantation for patients without a MRD, offering reduced intensity conditioning regimens to patients >60 years old. Support of training and development of research infrastructures remain of key importance in global health cancer care and global BMT.