Haploidentical, unmanipulated, G-CSF-primed bone marrow transplantation for patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies

Eighty patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies underwent unmanipulated, G-CSF-primed BM transplantation from an haploidentical family donor. Patients were transplanted in first or second complete remission (CR, standard-risk: n = 45) or in > second CR or active disease (high-risk: n = 35). The same regimen for GVHD prophylaxis was used in all cases. The cumulative incidence (CI) of neutrophil engraftment was 93% ± 0.1%. The 100-day CIs for II-IV and III-IV grade of acute GVHD were 24% ± 0.2% and 5% ± 0.6%, respectively. The 2-year CI of extensive chronic GVHD was 6% ± 0.1%. The 1-year CI of treatment-related mortality was 36% ± 0.3%. After a median follow-up of 18 months, 36 of 80 (45%) patients are alive in CR. The 3-year probability of overall and disease-free survival for standard-risk and high-risk patients was 54% ± 8% and 33% ± 9% and 44% ± 8% and 30% ± 9%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, disease-free survival was significantly better for patients who had standard-risk disease and received transplantations after 2007. We conclude that unmanipulated, G-CSF-primed BM transplantation from haploidentical family donor provides very encouraging results in terms of engraftment rate, incidence of GVHD and survival and represents a feasible, valid alternative for patients with high-risk malignant hematologic diseases, lacking an HLA identical sibling and in need to be urgently transplanted.