New Translational Trends in Personalized Medicine: Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cells and Plasma for COVID-19 Patient

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), still remains a severe threat. At the time of writing this paper, the second infectious wave has caused more than 280,000 deaths all over the world. Italy was one of the first countries involved, with more than 200,000 people reported as infected and 30,000 deaths. There are no specific treatments for COVID-19 and the vaccine still remains somehow inconclusive. The world health community is trying to define and share therapeutic protocols in early and advanced clinical stages. However, numbers remain critical with a serious disease rate of 14%, ending with sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ failure (MOF) and vascular and thromboembolic findings. The mortality rate was estimated within 2–3%, and more than double that for individuals over 65 years old; almost one patient in three dies in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Efforts for effective solutions are underway with multiple lines of investigations, and health authorities have reported success treating infected patients with donated plasma from survivors of the illness, the proposed benefit being protective antibodies formed by the survivors. Plasma transfusion, blood and stem cells, either autologous or allograft transplantation, are not novel therapies, and in this short paper, we propose therapeutic autologous plasma and peripheral blood stem cells as a possible treatment for fulminant COVID-19 infection.

Co-transplantation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and peripheral blood stem cells in children and adolescents with refractory severe aplastic anemia

Objectives: The purpose of our study was to analyze the co-transplantation efficacy of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs), which is considered as a novel approach for refractory severe aplastic anemia (RSAA) in children and adolescents. Methods: Thirty-two children and adolescents with RSAA were retrospectively reviewed. According to the source of PBSCs, all patients were divided into two groups (matched sibling donor group and matched unrelated donor group). Engraftment, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Results: No adverse events related to UC-MSCs infusion occurred in all patients. The median time for neutrophil engraftment was 13 (10~23) days and 15 (11~28) days for platelet. Grade Ⅰ ~ Ⅱ acute GVHD and moderate chronic GVHD were observed in 21.88% and 12.50% of the cases. No statistically significance was observed between the MSD and MUD group on engraftment, GVHD and complications including infection and hemorrhagic cystitis. The median follow-up time was 38.60 (1.37~140.83) months. To the date of October 31th 2021, 5 died and 27 (84.38%) survived. The 5-year OS rate was not statistically significant between the MSD and MUD group (84.8% ± 10.0% vs 82.4% ± 9.2%, P = 0.674). Conclusions: The application of UC-MSCs in the treatment of RSAA in PBSC transplantation is reliable and safe, which can significantly reduce the incidence of GVHD and severe transplantation-related complications and effectively improve patients’ life quality. Therefore, the method can be used as an active treatment option for patients with RSAA.

A Randomized Study Comparing the Effects of G-CSF and G-CSF/GM-CSF for the Mobilization of Peripheral Blood Stem Cells by Mitoxantrone and High-Dose Cytarabine Chemotherapy

We investigated the efficiency of mitoxantrone (MIT) and high-dose cytarabine (Ara-C) chemotherapy followed by G-CSF and G-CSF/GM-CSF treatments for the mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) in patients with leukemia and lymphoma. MIT was intravenously injected at 10 mg/(m2·d) for 2 to 3 days, followed by Ara-C injected intravenously at 2 g/m2 every 12 hours for 1 to 2 days. When white blood cell count recovered from the lowest value, 5 to 7.5 μg/ (kg·d) G-CSF was administered in 23 patients for 5 to 7 successive days. Another 27 patients received 3-5 μg/ (kg·d) G-CSF and 3-5μg/ (kg·d) GM-CSF. Autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected. Levels of CFU-GM and CD34+ cells were determined after unfreezing. The CD34+ cells and CFU-GM yields of 27 patients in G-CSF plus GM-CSF combination group [(8.79±3.11)×106/kg, (3.52±1.34)×105/kg, respectively] were significantly higher than those of patients receiving G-CSF alone (n=23) [(6.14±2.06)×106/kg, (2.03±1.06)×105/kg, respectively (P < 0.05)]. No obvious changes of T lymphocyte subsets in patients were observed when using G-CSF/GM-CSF, but levels of CD34+ cells increased gradually (P>0.05). The end-point separation blood volume was all above trebling TBV. No severe complications were observed during the mobilization and collection. Autologous PBSCT obtained quick hematopoietic reconstitution. In conclusion, MA chemotherapy combined with G-CSF alone and G-CSF/GM-CSF can safely and effectively mobilize autologous PBSCs, while G-CSF plus GM-CSF is superior to G-CSF alone. Large volume leukapheresis is an important method to enhance the production rate of stem cells and decrease harvesting time.

Cyclophosphamide, Etoposide, and Intermediate-Dose of Carboplatin; An Efficient Preparative Regimen for Autologous Transplantation for Patients with Lymphoma, a Good Alternative to Those Based on Carmustine. Experience with 108 Patients

Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (ASCT); is a universal accepted therapy for rescuing relapsed Hodgkin (HL) and non-Hodgkin (NHL) lymphoma patients and for consolidation of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). The most used preparative regimens in this setting are BEAM and CBV. both of them include carmustine, a medication with serious shortage and cost problems, therefore , is very important to find alternative regimens. During the nineties the combination of high dose of carboplatin plus cyclophosphamide and etoposide (CEC) was explored, however, it was abandoned due to high toxicity. We present our experience with 108 patients using this regimen but with intermediate dose of carboplatin (Inter CEC) Methods: We did a retrospective descriptive longitudinal observational study. All consecutive patients who met the inclusion criteria; age above 18 years, diagnosis of HL, NHL, M CL, and transplanted with Inter CEC were included. The preparative regimen consisted of carboplatin 900 mg/m2, etoposide 900 mg/m2, and cyclophosphamide 6.000 mg/m2, split in five days (fig 1). All patients received peripheral blood stem cells, and from d + 5 until neutrophil recovery, daily filgrastim. Every patient signed informed consent and the study was approved for institutional ethical committee. Results: From Oct 2013 to May 2020, 108 patients were included; median age was 45 years (18-70), 43.5% were female, 20% were older than 60 years and 79.6% had advanced disease at diagnosis. Thirty-five (32.4%) had HL, 35 (32.4 %) NHL (28 diffuse large B cell, 7 follicular), 29 (26,9%) had MCL, and 9 (8.3%) had other lymphomas. 34% of HL patients and 48% of cases were transplanted in CR1 after being refractory to first line therapy, while 44% and 14% of HL and NHL respectively had active disease at the time of transplantation. Regarding MCL cases; 21 (72,4%) had MIPI above 3 points and 96.5% were transplanted in first remission. All of the evaluable patients at day + 30 had hematopoietic recovery, median time to achieve 500 neutrophil /ul or more was 12.3 days (10-30) and for self-sustained platelet counts, 20.000/ul or more, was 15.3 (10-34). After a median follow up for surviving patients of 42,2 months the overall survival (OS) (Kaplan-Meier) at 48 months for the entire group was 74% (CI 63-82) and the event free survival (EFS) was 57% (CI 43-69). When the OS and EFS were discriminated for diseases, it was; for HL 76% (CI 56-88) and 43% (CI 17-66), for NHL 78% (CI: 57-90) and 68% (CI 42-83), and for MCL 69% (48-83) and 57% (CI 32-76) respectively (Fig 2). Eleven out of 18 patients (61%) transplanted with active disease achieved complete remission and 14 out of the entire group relapsed during the first years of transplant The transplant related mortality (TRM) at 1 year was 2.8%, the relapse associated deaths were 13% and, in 5 patients, who died after one year of transplant, the cause was not found. The main toxicity was mucositis; 46%, (grade II-IV: 22%), 30 patients (28%) had confirmed infections; bacteremia 17 cases, pneumonia 5, and others infections 6. Renal toxicity occurred in 24 cases (22%), grade 1; 15.8%, grade 2; 4.6% and grade 3; 1.8% Discussion Comparing results among trials is always difficult; however, despite that, in our series 58% of the cases were transplanted with active disease, our outcomes compare favorably with the results informed after the use of BEAM or CBV presented by CIBMTR in the largest trial published so far (table 1). The use of intermediate dose of carboplatin plus etoposide and cyclophosphamide produces a very good control of the lymphoma activity with acceptable toxicity, and achieves good OS and EFS. Other advantage of this regimen is that is carmustine free. The next step in our study is to do a matched paired analysis with patients transplanted with BEAM or CBV Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Comparable Outcomes Among Adult Patients Allotransplanted for Myelodysplastic Syndrome Using Haploidentical, Matched Unrelated or Matched Sibling Donors: A Single-Center Study

Introduction: Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) remains the only curative option for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). If recent data have shown encouraging results with haploidentical (haplo) donors in this context, no comparison with allo-SCT using other source of graft (matched sibling [MSD] or unrelated [MUD] donors) has been reported so far. Methods: We retrospectively considered 102 consecutive adults transplanted for MDS between March 2010 and August 2020 in our Department, comparing outcomes between those receiving a graft from a MSD, a MUD or a haplo-donor. Results : Thirty-three, 48 and 21 patients respectively received a graft from a MSD, MUD or haplo donor. Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) were the source of graft for all patients. The median age of the whole cohort was 63 years old (range: 20-74) and the median follow-up was 23 months (range: 0-125). The three groups shared similar characteristics (gender, type of MDS, disease status, disease risk index, CMV status, ABO compatibility, peripheral blood stem cells graft count, conditioning regimen) except median recipient age which was younger in matched patients ( 61 vs 65 MUD vs 65 Haplo, p=0,04) and median donor age which was older in matched transplant ( 61 vs 34 MUD vs 42 Haplo, p&lt; 0,001) (Table 1). With a median follow-up of 46,4 months, the 4-year OS (Figure 1) was comparable between the three groups (haplo: 60.1 % ± 11,0 % , MSD: 59,0 % ±9,4 % and MUD: 61.2 % ± 7,2 %, p = 0.88) as well as the 4-year DFS (Figure 2) (55.9 % ± 11,1 % vs 51,2 % ±9,2 % vs 59.6 % ± 7,2 %, p = 0.78) and the cumulative incidence (CI) of NRM (34.6 % ±12,4 % , 15,4% ± 6,4% and 23.8 % ± 6,4 %, p = 0.21). Also, the 4-year CI of acute grade 3-4 GVHD (14,3% vs 15,2% vs 20,8%, p=0.79) and of moderate/severe chronic GVHD (14,3% vs 24.2% vs 27,1%, p=0.56) were not significantly different. The 4-year GRFS seemed better with haplo (Figure 3) but this was not statistically significant (56,1 % ± 11,0% vs 28,1% ±9,2 % vs 32,8 % ± 7,4%,p=0 .41). Conclusions: These data suggest that haplo-identical donors represent a valid alternative in MDS patients lacking a MSD or a MUD for allo-SCT. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Moreau: Oncopeptides: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Celgene BMS: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria.

Novel Use of Intraarticular Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (hG-CSF) Combined with Activated Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cells Mobilized with Systemic hG-CSF: Safe and Efficient in Early Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) tends to occur in older individuals frequently burdened with comorbidities and diverse pharmacological interactions. As articular cartilage has low regenerative power, potent local tissue engineering approaches are needed to support chondrogenic differentiation. Acellular preparation methods as well as approaches to coax endogenous reparative cells into the joint space appear to have limited success. Supported by our in-vitro and clinical studies, we propose that our novel intra-articular administration of human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (IA-hG-CSF) combined with autologous activated peripheral blood stem cells (AAPBSC) is safe and offers treatment advantages not seen with other cellular interventions in early osteoarthritis.