Hematopoietic cell transplantation is feasible in patients with prior COVID-19 infection Journal Article


Authors: Shah, N.; Dahi, P. B.; Ponce, D. M.; Sauter, C. S.; Shaffer, B. C.; Chung, D. J.; Politikos, I.; Lin, R. J.; Giralt, S. A.; Papanicolaou, G.; Ramanathan, L. V.; Perales, M. A.; Kamboj, M.; Shah, G. L.; Gyurkocza, B.
Article Title: Hematopoietic cell transplantation is feasible in patients with prior COVID-19 infection
Abstract: There are limited data on outcomes of patients with prior Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who proceeded to autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Whether these patients are more susceptible to poor outcomes and recurrence of COVID-19 is unknown. We report a retrospective analysis of outcomes of 15 consecutive patients with hematologic malignancies who experienced COVID-19 and subsequently underwent autologous (n = 8) or allogeneic (n = 7) HCT between June 17, 2020, and February 17, 2021. The cohort included patients with asymptomatic past infections or symptomatic COVID-19 disease. Data were obtained from chart review. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient characteristics. Among eight patients who underwent autologous HCT, four had a diagnosis of multiple myeloma and four had a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Four of these eight patients did not test positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody at any point during the course of treatment. The other four patients had detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies before undergoing autologous HCT, but only two of these patients remained anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody-positive at their last follow-up. One patient died from progression of disease. Seven patients with prior COVID-19 underwent allogeneic HCT for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 3), acute myelogenous leukemia (n = 1), chronic myelogenous leukemia in lymphoid blast crisis (n = 1), myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 1), or myelofibrosis (n = 1). Three of the seven patients tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies following the initial COVID-19 diagnosis; however, only one of these patients retained anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody following allogeneic HCT. One patient died of infection (fungal and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia) occurring in the context of ongoing treatment for graft-versus-host disease. None of the 15 patients had recurrent COVID-19 infection. Based on our experience, autologous and allogeneic HCT can be safely performed in selected patients with previous COVID-19 infection. © 2021 The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
Keywords: retrospective studies; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; retrospective study; hematopoietic cell transplantation; humans; human; covid-19; sars-cov-2; covid-19 testing; sars cov-2; sars cov-2 antibody seroconversion
Journal Title: Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
Volume: 28
Issue: 1
ISSN: 2666-6375
Publisher: Elsevier Inc.  
Date Published: 2022-01-01
Start Page: 55.e1
End Page: 55.e5
Language: English
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtct.2021.10.004
PUBMED: 34649021
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC8503970
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 1 March 2022 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Sergio Andres Giralt
    1053 Giralt
  2. Mini Kamboj
    159 Kamboj
  3. Craig Steven Sauter
    334 Sauter
  4. Doris Ponce
    256 Ponce
  5. Miguel-Angel Perales
    915 Perales
  6. David Chung
    240 Chung
  7. Parastoo Bahrami Dahi
    295 Dahi
  8. Boglarka   Gyurkocza
    136 Gyurkocza
  9. Gunjan Lalitchandra Shah
    419 Shah
  10. Brian Carl Shaffer
    166 Shaffer
  11. Ioannis   Politikos
    105 Politikos
  12. Richard Jirui Lin
    124 Lin
  13. Nishi Shah
    10 Shah