Haploidentical age-adapted myeloablative transplant and regulatory and effector T cells for acute myeloid leukemia

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the most effective treatment in eradicating high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we present data from a novel HLA-haploidentical HSCT protocol that addressed the 2 remaining major unmet medical needs: leukemia relapse and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Fifty AML patients were enrolled in the study. The conditioning regimen included total body irradiation for patients up to age 50 years and total marrow/lymphoid irradiation for patients age 51 to 65 years. Irradiation was followed by thiotepa, fludarabine, and cyclophosphamide. Patients received an infusion of 2 x 10(6)/kg donor regulatory T cells on day -4 followed by 1 x 106/kg donor conventional T cells on day -1 and a mean of 10.7 x 10(6) +/- 3.4 x 10(6)/kgpurified CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells on day 0. No pharmacological GVHD prophylaxis was administered posttransplantation. Patients achieved full donor-type engraftment. Fifteen patients developed grade >= 2 acute GVHD (aGVHD). Twelve of the 15 patients with aGVHD were alive and no longer receiving immunosuppressive therapy. Moderate/severe cGVHD occurred in only 1 patient. Nonrelapse mortality occurred in 10 patients. Only 2 patients relapsed. Consequently, at a median follow-up of 29 months, the probability of moderate/severe cGVHD/relapse-free survival was 75% (95% confidence interval, 71%-78%). A novel HLA-haploidentical HSCT strategy that combines an age-adapted myeloablative conditioning regimen with regulatory and conventional T-cell adoptive immunotherapy resulted in an unprecedented cGVHD/relapse-free survival rate in 50 AML patients with a median age of 53 years.

Automated summary

A novel HLA-haploidentical HSCT strategy, combining an age-adapted myeloablative conditioning regimen with regulatory and conventional T-cell adoptive immunotherapy, resulted in a significant improvement in cGVHD/relapse-free survival rate in 50 AML patients.