Clinical significance of low-dose total body irradiation in HLA-mismatched reduced-intensity stem cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplant. 2019 Aug;54(8):1327-1336. doi: 10.1038/s41409-019-0434-3. Epub 2019 Jan 22.

Abstract

The significance of low-dose total body irradiation (TBI) in HLA-mismatched reduced-intensity conditioning stem cell transplantation (RICT) remains unknown. We, retrospectively, evaluated the impact of low-dose TBI in patients with hematological malignancies who received first RICT from ≥1 antigen-mismatched donors between 2004 and 2014. Of the 575 patients, 361 patients received low-dose TBI (2 or 4 Gy). There were no significant differences in neutrophil engraftment or platelet recovery between TBI and non-TBI groups. The benefit of low-dose TBI on neutrophil engraftment was not observed in any subgroups. Low-dose TBI was not associated with decreased secondary graft failure. Suppressed mixed chimerism and autologous hematopoiesis by low-dose TBI was observed. There were no significant differences in cumulative incidences of acute GVHD or nonrelapse mortality rates in either group; however, low-dose TBI improved overall survival (OS), especially in patients with high-risk disease, multi-HLA mismatch, and fludarabine/busulfan conditioning. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that low-dose TBI was an independent prognostic factor for OS. Compared with the non-TBI group, 4 Gy TBI, but not 2 Gy TBI, was associated with increased acute GVHD and reduced relapse. These findings suggest that low-dose TBI may be beneficial for patients at high risk for relapse in HLA-mismatched RICT.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Female
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / methods*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Transplantation Conditioning / methods*
  • Whole-Body Irradiation / methods*
  • Young Adult