Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and severity of chemotherapy plus donor lymphocyte infusion (Chemo-DLI) associated chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) in a consecutive cohort of patients with acute leukemia who experienced relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT; n = 104). The 5-year cumulative incidence of complete remission (CR) after Chemo-DLI was 81.0% (95% CI, 73.3-88.7%) and 84.6% (95% CI, 74.5-94.7%) in the moderate and severe cGVHD groups, respectively, which was significantly higher than that of the mild cGVHD 40.9% (95% CI, 29.3-52.5%) and non-cGVHD groups 29.2% (95% CI 23.1-35.3%) (Figure 1). The cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality was comparable between patients with and without cGVHD . The 5-year probabilities of progression-free survival after Chemo-DLI were 42.9% (95% CI, 26.2-70.2%) and 34.6% (95% CI, 15.3-78.2%) in moderate and severe cGVHD groups, respectively, which were both significantly higher than those of mild cGVHD 9.1% (95% CI, 2.4-34.1%) and non-cGVHD groups 8.3% (95% CI 3.3-21.3%) (Figure 2). The 5-year probabilities of overall survival after Chemo-DLI were 56.7% (95% CI, 38.9-82.7%) and 43.1% (95% CI, 22.1-84.0%), in moderate and severe cGVHD groups, respectively, which were both significantly higher than those of the mild cGVHD 9.1% (95% CI 1.8-47.1%) and non-cGVHD groups 14.9% (95% CI, 7.3-30.2%) (Figure 3). Our observations highlight the close relation between cGVHD and immune-mediated graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect in patients with relapse receiving Chemo-DLI; however, mild cGVHD may not be associated with a sufficiently strong GVL effect to induce remission and improve survival.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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