Pooled analysis of long-term data from studies of tandem autologous versus autologous-allogeneic HSCT for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

Tandem autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) (auto-HSCT) has been studied as a method of increasing remission rates and reducing relapse in the upfront treatment of multiple myeloma (MM).^1,2 Autologous HSCT followed by reduced intensity conditioning allogeneic HSCT (auto-allo-HSCT) offers the potential for a long-term graft-versus-myeloma (GVM) effect, but carries a risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and potentially higher non-relapse mortality (NRM).

Tandem auto-allo-HSCT has been compared with tandem auto-HSCT in multiple prospective studies with conflicting results, leaving clinicians unclear which strategy is preferred for newly diagnosed patients with MM. In 2013, a meta-analysis of published results was performed, which suggested that auto-allo-HSCT was associated with a better chance of a complete response, but with higher NRM and no improvement in PFS or OS compared with tandem auto-HSCT.³

With the passage of time, many of these studies now have long-term follow-up data available, enabling a fresh analysis of pooled individual patient data from these studies. The latest analysis, which included long-term follow-up data from four of the original meta-analyses, was presented in December 2019 at the 61^st American Society of Hematology Meeting & Exposition, Orlando, US, by Luciano Costa from the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, US.⁴

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Study design

• Studies were selected for inclusion that fulfilled the following criteria:
  • Newly diagnosed patients with MM who had received brief induction therapy
  • Allocation to auto-auto-HSCT or auto-allo-HSCT arms based exclusively on the availability of HLA-matched sibling donors (“biologic randomization”)
  • Conditioning regimen for allo-HSCT met Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research^® (CIBMTR) criteria for reduced intensity
• Investigators from all trials meeting eligibility criteria were invited to submit a limited dataset (age, gender, risk profile, treatment arm, relapse, NRM, PFS, OS)
• Patients were designated high-risk if they had a β2 microglobulin level at diagnosis of ≥ 4 mg/L and/or a deletion of chromosome 13 by metaphase karyotyping
• Outcomes analyzed: PFS, OS, NRM, risk of relapse
• All analyses were by intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis
• NRM and relapse/progression were analyzed as competing risks
• Post-relapse survival (PRS) was defined as the time from relapse/progression until death, censored at last follow-up if alive

Patient characteristics

• Data from four studies were included: BMT CTN 0102, NMAM2000, PETHEMA/GEM2000, and NCT00415987
• 1,338 patients were included in the analysis (Table 1)
  • 899 patients underwent auto-auto-HSCT
  • 439 patients underwent auto-allo-HSCT
• Median follow-up of survivors: 118.5 months
• Patients receiving auto-allo-HSCT were slightly younger than patients receiving auto-auto-HSCT
• The median follow-up of survivors was longer in the auto-allo-HSCT group than in the auto-auto-HSCT group

 Table 1. Patient characteristics

Results

• PFS and OS were significantly improved after auto-allo-HSCT compared with auto-auto-HSCT (Table 2)

Table 2. OS, PFS, and NRM in newly diagnosed patients with MM receiving either auto-auto-HSCT or auto-allo-HSCT in four studies

• For the 214 high-risk patients (125 auto-auto-HSCT, 89 auto-allo-HSCT), 5-year and 10-year PFS rates were significantly higher with auto-allo-HSCT than with auto-auto-HSCT, but there was no difference in OS
• Median PRS was 41.5 months (95% CI, 36.5–46.4) in the auto-auto-HSCT arm and 62.3 months (95% CI, 47.7–76.9) in the auto-allo-HSCT arm (HR= 0.70; 95% CI, 0.58–0.84; p< 0.001)

Conclusions

The authors of this study have concluded that, compared with auto-auto-HSCT, auto-allo-HSCT is associated with the best long-term outcomes, although the benefits are only evident with long-term follow-up. Auto-allo-HSCT was associated with a lower risk of relapse, longer OS and PFS, and a higher risk of NRM compared with auto-auto-HSCT. Robust improvements in post-relapse survival were attributed to potential cooperation between GVM and novel MM agents. Nevertheless, despite the advantages of auto-allo-HSCT over auto-auto-HSCT demonstrated in this study, the authors suggest that the improved long-term survival benefit should be balanced against the late morbidity such as chronic GvHD.