scholarly journals Strategies for Liver Transplantation Tolerance

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2253
Author(s):  
Filip Cvetkovski ◽  
J. Mark Hexham ◽  
Erik Berglund

Liver transplant (LT) recipients require life-long immunosuppression (IS) therapy to preserve allograft function. The risks of chronic IS include an increased frequency of malignancy, infection, renal impairment, and other systemic toxicities. Despite advances in IS, long-term LT outcomes have not been improved over the past three decades. Standard-of-care (SoC) therapy can, in rare cases, lead to development of operational tolerance that permits safe withdrawal of maintenance IS. However, successful IS withdrawal cannot be reliably predicted and, in current prospective studies, is attempted several years after the transplant procedure, after considerable exposure to the cumulative burden of maintenance therapy. A recent pilot clinical trial in liver tolerance induction demonstrated that peri-transplant immunomodulation, using a regulatory T-cell (Treg) approach, can reduce donor-specific alloreactivity and allow early IS withdrawal. Herein we review protocols for active tolerance induction in liver transplantation, with a focus on identifying tolerogenic cell populations, as well as barriers to tolerance. In addition, we propose the use of novel IS agents to promote immunomodulatory mechanisms favoring tolerance. With numerous IS withdrawal trials underway, improved monitoring and use of novel immunomodulatory strategies will help provide the necessary knowledge to establish an active liver tolerance induction protocol for widespread use.

Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 2024-2024
Author(s):  
Ryan D. Gentzler ◽  
Andrew M. Evens ◽  
Alfred W. Rademaker ◽  
Bharat B Mittal ◽  
Adam M. Petrich ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2024 Background: For patients with relapsed or refractory HL, salvage chemotherapy followed by aHSCT is the standard of care. Our group previously reported excellent clinical outcomes with accelerated hyperfractionated TLI followed by high-dose chemotherapy and aHSCT (Ann of Oncol. 16:679, 2007). This strategy has been adopted as the standard at our institution for eligible individuals and we now report long-term outcomes of patients previously reported on the phase I/II clinical trial in addition to those who were subsequently treated as standard of care. Patients and methods: Patients with biopsy confirmed relapsed/refractory classical HL who previously received no more than 20 Gy were eligible. Salvage chemotherapy was chosen by the patient's treating physician. All patients received accelerated hyperfractionated TLI prior to transplantation administered twice daily at 150 cGy, five days/week for 10 days. The morning dose was delivered to all nodal sites including the spleen, and the afternoon dose was delivered to all sites of previous and current disease. The goal was to treat uninvolved nodal sites and spleen to 1500 cGy and sites of current and previous disease to 3000 cGy. Conditioning chemotherapy consisted of high-dose carboplatin, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide. All patients received carboplatin 450 mg/m2 by continuous intravenous infusion (CIV) on days –6 to –4 (total dose = 1350 mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide 60 mg/kg/day over 1 h on days –3 and –2 (total dose = 120 mg/kg). Patients on the phase I portion of the trial received escalating doses of etoposide by CIV from days –6 to –4. Initial dosing levels were 400 mg/m2/day, 450 mg/m2/day, 500 mg/m2/day, 600 mg/m2/day and 700 mg/m2/day. Those treated on the phase II portion of the clinical trial or subsequent to the closing of the trial were treated with etoposide 700 mg/m2/day for a total of 2100 mg/m2. Results: 52 patients with relapsed/refractory HL at Northwestern University were treated with TLI and aHSCT from 1993 to January 2011. One patient was lost to follow-up immediately post-transplant. 51 patients were included in this analysis and had a median follow-up of 47 months (range: 0.07–204 months). Thirty patients were treated on a previously reported prospective phase I/II clinical trial. Most patients had nodular sclerosis histology (n=39, 76%) and more than half had primary induction failure (PIF; n=29). Among patients who achieved a CR with induction, 62% relapsed within one year. The most common salvage regimens were ESHAP and ICE chemotherapy and most had received two lines of chemotherapy prior to aHSCT. Only 21 patients (41%) achieved a complete response (CR) with salvage therapy and in most cases (n=31, 61%), response was determined by functional imaging prior to aHSCT. The 10-year PFS and OS for all patients were 56% and 54%, respectively. Ten-year PFS and OS for patients with PIF was 53%, compared with 63% and 59%, respectively, for those with relapsed disease (p=0.13 and p=0.20, respectively). Patients who had incomplete responses to salvage therapy had a 10-year PFS and OS of 41% and 39%, respectively, compared to 76% and 81%, respectively, for those who achieved a CR (p=0.1 and p=0.056, respectively). Treatment-related mortality within the first 100 days was observed in one patient. Five patients (10%) developed secondary malignancies; three developed MDS (one who had received MOPP induction died with MDS; one had relapsed HL post-aHSCT and died of AML and one is alive with MDS 3+ yrs post-diagnosis). There was one case each of T-cell lymphoma (7 months post-aHSCT) and melanoma. Conclusions: Sequential TLI/chemotherapy conditioning for relapsed/refractory HL for patients with limited or no prior radiotherapy continues to be associated with excellent disease control and long-term survival rates including high-risk populations such as PIF and chemotherapy-resistant disease. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. TPS537-TPS537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Geynisman ◽  
Philip Abbosh ◽  
Matthew R. Zibelman ◽  
Rebecca Feldman ◽  
David James McConkey ◽  
...  

TPS537 Background: Cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by cystectomy (Cx) or chemoradiation (CRT) is the standard of care for urothelial carcinoma (UC) pts with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Both Cx and CRT carry potential short and long-term toxicity and quality of life implications. Recent work has shown that mutations in DNA damage repair/response genes are predictive of pathologic downstaging after NAC at the time of Cx, with those pts achieving pT0 disease demonstrating excellent long-term survival (Van Allen et al. Cancer Discov. 2014; Plimack et al. Eur Urol. 2015; Liu et al. JAMA Oncol. 2016; Teo et al. CCR. 2017). Sparing pts Cx or CRT after NAC without compromising oncologic outcomes would improve quality of life and decrease morbidity. Methods: A phase II, parallel arm, multi-institutional clinical trial (NCT02710734) is being conducted to evaluate a risk-adapted approach to treatment of MIBC. Pts with cT2-T3N0M0 UC of the bladder, ECOG PS 0-1 and CrCl≥50 mL/min, undergo NAC with accelerated methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin. Simultaneously, the pre-NAC TURBT specimen is submitted for deep sequencing to identify variants in a panel of cancer-relevant genes (Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ). Those with an alteration in ATM, RB1, FANCC or ERCC2 and no clinical evidence of disease by restaging TUR and imaging post-NAC will begin a pre-defined active surveillance regimen that includes urinary cytological, cystoscopic, and radiographic evaluations. The remaining pts will undergo bladder-directed therapy at the discretion of the pt and clinician applying either intravesical therapy ( < cT2 post-NAC), CRT or Cx (≤cT2 post-NAC) or Cx (≥cT3 post-NAC). The primary objective is metastasis-free survival (MFS) at 2 years for all enrolled and evaluable pts. The trial has a non-inferiority design with a 14% margin between risk-adapted treatment (MFS = 78%) and standard-of-care (MFS = 64%) with a sample size of 70 pts, 82% power and a type I error of 0.045. Key secondary and translational objectives: assess the rate of UC recurrence in active surveillance pts; validate biomarkers of response to NAC; evaluate urinary biomarkers consistent with persistent UC. Clinical trial information: NCT02710734.


2020 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
pp. 036-039
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cracco ◽  
Lisandro Montorfano ◽  
Jason M. Vanatta

AbstractAlcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is one of the most common indications for liver transplantation. However, liver transplantation for alcoholic hepatitis (AH) remains controversial. The morbidity of severe alcoholic hepatitis (SAH) is extremely high, with most of the deaths occurring within the first 2 months. Multiple studies have recently demonstrated significant improvement in overall survival following liver transplantation in patients with SAH who failed medical management, with comparable rates to those transplanted electively. Concerns remain due to the small pool of donors and the high risk of alcohol relapse in this population. The traditional requirement of 6 months of abstinence prior to transplantation, or also known as “6-month rule” is controversial and has been criticized as whether it is a good predictor of long-term sobriety. Previous studies among patients with alcoholic cirrhosis have indicated that this rule poorly identifies patients who will relapse after liver transplantation. More recent studies in patients transplanted for SAH, have reported relapse rates that are comparable to those with abstinence periods >6 months. Applying stringent selection criteria appears to be key in identifying patients who are less likely to relapse after transplantation, and therefore prolonging patient and graft life. However, further research is needed to identify patients at risk and create appropriate screening tools. In this article, we present a review of currently available data on this topic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 269 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbas Rana ◽  
Ruth L. Ackah ◽  
Gwilym J. Webb ◽  
Karim J. Halazun ◽  
John M. Vierling ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 204993612096960
Author(s):  
Barbara Jones ◽  
Grant Waterer

Community-acquired pneumonia is one of the commonest and deadliest of the infectious diseases, yet our understanding of it remains relatively poor. The recently published American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America Community-acquired pneumonia guidelines acknowledged that most of what we accept as standard of care is supported only by low quality evidence, highlighting persistent uncertainty and deficiencies in our knowledge. However, progress in diagnostics, translational research, and epidemiology has changed our concept of pneumonia, contributing to a gradual improvement in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for our patients. The emergence of considerable evidence about adverse long-term health outcomes in pneumonia survivors has also challenged our concept of pneumonia as an acute disease and what treatment end points are important. This review focuses on advances in the research and care of community-acquired pneumonia in the past two decades. We summarize the evidence around our understanding of pathogenesis and diagnosis, discuss key contentious management issues including the role of procalcitonin and the use or non-use of corticosteroids, and explore the relationships between pneumonia and long-term outcomes including cardiovascular and cognitive health.


Author(s):  
O. A. Gerasimova ◽  
V. V. Borovik ◽  
N. V. Marchenko ◽  
I. I. Tileubergenov

In this review of current publications, we look at the molecular mechanisms of tolerance of the liver and its allografts in terms of minimization and possibilities of withdrawing immunosuppressive therapy, mainly in the long-term period after liver transplantation. Information about clinical trials with regulatory T cells (Tregs) for the purpose of tolerance induction is presented. Data from a new consensus study on individualization of immunosuppressive therapy regimens are presented. Options for possible withdrawal of immunosuppression both in the early and in the long term after liver transplantation (LT) are considered. We suggest a way to study the lymphoproliferative potential of a liver transplant recipient to be investigated, since not only rejection determines life expectancy, but also the degree of immunosuppression effect on bone marrow depending on patient age.


2018 ◽  
Vol 97 (9) ◽  
pp. E15-E17 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Devaraja ◽  
Prem Sagar ◽  
Chirom Amit Singh ◽  
Rajeev Kumar

Rhinosporidiosis is a communicable disease prevalent in tropical countries that affects one or more mucocutaneous sites such as the nasal cavity, pharynx, skin, bronchus, genitals, and bone, in isolation or together. We report a case of multicentric rhinosporidiosis involving the nasal cavity, oropharynx, larynx, and cheek skin without disseminated disease outside the head and neck. Although the appearance of mucocutaneous lesions in our patient was similar to that of papilloma or neoplasm, the distinct clinicopathologic characteristics of the rhinosporidiosis guided us in managing the case successfully. In our own experience with 11 patients with rhinosporidiosis on whom we operated over the past 5 years, the nasal cavity and pharynx were the most commonly involved sites in the head and neck. Surgical excision of all lesions along with cauterization of the base and long-term dapsone therapy is the current standard of care for multicentric rhinosporidiosis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asbjørn Årøen ◽  
Stian Kjennvold

Abstract Treatment of articular cartilage injuries have been a challenge for orthopedic surgeons for decades. The following study protocol add knowledge about ongoing research in the field and outline the ongoing long-term follow-up on the transplantation of bone marrow derived stem cells in a clinical trial with 10 years follow-up. The study protocol describes a method to save chondral fractures, which in the past frequently treated with removal of the detached fragments.


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