Outcomes of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Secondary Central Nervous System Lymphoma

• Published in: Blood 2021-11, Vol.138 (Supplement 1), p.4911-4911
• Main Authors: Gaut, Daria, Oliai, Caspian, Mead, Monica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood-2021-145358

Introduction: Aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (aNHL) with secondary central nervous system (sCNS) involvement has a poor prognosis. Studies have reported a response to induction treatment as low as 35%, leaving less than half of patients eligible for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). Outcomes of patients in these clinical scenarios are dismal and treatment is ill-defined. Small case series suggest chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy may play a role in the management of relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell lymphoma (BCL) with sCNS involvement, but follow-up is limited and response duration is uncertain. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (alloHCT) offers a durable remission for a subset of patients with R/R systemic aNHL primarily mediated through a graft versus lymphoma (GVL) effect, but it is unclear if GVL properties include the immune-privileged CNS. The present study aims to describe outcomes of a cohort of patients with R/R aggressive B- and T-cell NHL with sCNS involvement who underwent alloHCT at a single academic institution. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis that includes all patients with R/R aNHL with sCNS involvement who underwent alloHCT at the University of California, Los Angeles from 2005-2020. The UCLA Institutional Board Review approved this study. Relevant clinical data was extracted from medical records. Hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI) and time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment were measured according to Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research criteria. Results: Ten patients were included (3 females, 7 males). Histologic subtypes included anaplastic BCL (1), mantle cell lymphoma (1), blastic natural killer-cell lymphoma (1), peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (1), primary mediastinal BCL (1), and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (non-germinal center=3, germinal center-like=2). Two DLBCL patients had histologic transformed lymphoma (follicular lymphoma =1, chronic lymphocytic lymphoma = 1). Four patients had sCNS involvement at the time of initial diagnosis or during frontline treatment; the remaining 6 patients developed sCNS lymphoma at relapse. sCNS lymphoma was identified in the parenchymal (n=4), leptomeningeal (n=3), or both (n=3) compartments. The median age at the time of alloHCT was 49.5 (range 28-68), and 1 patient was ˃ 60. At the time of alloHCT, 1 patient had residual disease in the CNS and the remaining 9 patient