Assessment of the hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index in non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients receiving reduced intensity allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Abstract

7096 Background: Several patient-related factors influence outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI), a weighted index of 17 pre-transplant comorbidities, has been validated in non- myeloablative HCT studies, but it has not been tested in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients receiving reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) HCT nor has it been compared with a number of other pre-transplant factors. Methods: We performed an analysis of 63 NHL patients treated with RIC HCT to assess the HCT-CI's impact on overall survival (OS), treatment-related mortality (TRM) and disease-related mortality (DRM). Individual factors, including performance status, single comorbidities, CD34 dose, prior chemotherapy number, pre-transplant induction chemotherapy response, and NHL histology, were also analyzed relative to their impact on OS. Prior to transplant, all patients received an identical induction regimen (EPOCH-fludarabine). All patients received identical RIC (Cy/Flu) and were transplanted from HLA-matched siblings. Results: In univariate analysis, each of the above factors, except for histology and CD34 dose, exhibited a trend toward an association with OS (adjusted p<0.10). The HCT-CI (0–2 comorbidities vs. 3+ comorbidities) demonstrated an association with TRM at 100 days (4.5% vs. 26.3%) and 1 year (13.6% vs. 36.8%) post-transplant, but not DRM. The factor most strongly associated with OS was response to induction chemotherapy (CR/PR/SD vs. PD; p=0.0025). In a Cox model for OS, induction chemotherapy response remained the sole important factor, while the HCT-CI and other pre-transplant factors added little predictive value to the induction chemotherapy response. The HCT-CI was more strongly associated with OS and TRM in a subset analysis restricted to patients in CR/PR following induction chemotherapy. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the HCT-CI may be useful for estimating probabilities of TRM and OS in NHL patients being considered for RIC HCT. The data further suggest that chemotherapy response at transplant may have significant impact on transplant outcomes. No significant financial relationships to disclose.