This study examined factors accounting for functional performance limitations in 100 long-term survivors of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Functional performance, measured by the SF-36 physical component summary score, was substantially lower (mean ¼ 36.8±10.7) than the US population norm of 50 (Po0.001). The most severe decrements were in physical function (mean ¼ 38.8 ± 10.9) and physical role function (mean ¼ 37.88±11.88); 68% of respondents exceeded the five-point threshold of minimum clinically important difference below the norm on these subscales. Controlling for age and gender, six variables explained 56% of the variance in functional performance: time since cGVHD diagnosis, cGVHD severity, intensity of immunosuppression, comorbidity, functional capacity (distance walked in 2 min, grip strength, and range of motion), and cGVHD symptom bother (F ¼ 11.26; Po0.001). Significant independent predictors of impaired performance were intensive systemic immunosuppression, reduced capacity for ambulation, and greater cGVHD symptom bother (Po0.05). Symptom bother had a direct effect on functional performance, as well as an indirect effect partially mediated by functional capacity (Sobel test, P ¼ 0.004). Results suggest two possible mechanisms underlying impaired functional performance in survivors with cGVHD and underscore the importance of testing interventions to enhance functional capacity and reduce symptom bother.
Between 2004 and 2010, 189 adult patients were enrolled on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) cross-sectional chronic Graft-versus-Host disease (cGVHD) natural history study. Patients were evaluated by multiple disease scales and outcome measures including the 2005 NIH Consensus Project cGVHD severity score. The purpose of this study is to assess the validity of the NIH scoring variables as determinants of disease severity in severely affected patients in order to standardize clinician evaluation and staging of cGVHD. 125 of 189 patients met criteria for severe cGVHD on the NIH global score and 62 had moderate disease, with a median of 4 (range 1–8) involved organs. Clinician average NIH organ score and the corresponding organ scores performed by subspecialists were highly correlated (r=0.64). NIH global severity scores showed significant associations with nearly all functional and quality of life outcome measures including Lee Scale, SF-36 Physical Component Scale (PCS), 2 minutes walk, grip strength, range of motion and Human Activity Profile (HAP). Joints/fascia, skin, and lung involvement impacted function and quality of life most significantly and showed highest number of correlations with outcome measures. The final Cox model showing factors jointly predictive for survival contained the time from cGVHD diagnosis (>49 vs. ≤49 months, HR=0.23; p=0.0011), absolute eosinophil count of (0–0.5 vs. >0.5 cells/µL, HR=3.95; p=0.0006) at the time of NIH evaluation, and NIH lung score (3 vs. 0–2, HR=11.02; p <0.0001). These results demonstrate that NIH organs and global severity scores are reliable measures of cGVHD disease burden. Strong association with subspecialist evaluation suggests that NIH organs and global severity scores are appropriate for clinical and research assessments, and may serve as a surrogate for more complex sub-specialist exams. In this population of severely affected patients, NIH lung score is the strongest predictor of poor overall survival, both alone and after adjustment for other important factors.
Sclerotic skin manifestations of chronic graft-versus-host disease (ScGVHD) lead to significant morbidity, including functional disability from joint range of motion (ROM) restriction. No superior second-line therapy has been established for steroid-refractory disease. Imatinib mesylate is a multi-kinase inhibitor of several signaling pathways implicated in skin fibrosis with in vitro antifibrotic activity. We performed an open label pilot Phase 2 trial of imatinib in children and adults with corticosteroid refractory ScGVHD. Twenty patients were enrolled in a 6 month trial. Eight received a standard dose (adult: 400 mg daily; children: 260 mg/m2 daily). Due to poor tolerability, 12 additional patients underwent a dose escalation regimen (adult: 100 mg daily initial dose up to 200 mg daily maximum; children initial dose 65 mg/m2 daily up to 130 mg/m2 daily). Fourteen patients were evaluable for primary response, improvement in joint range of motion (ROM) deficit, at 6 months. Primary outcome criteria for partial response (PR) was met in 5/14 (36%), stable disease (SD) in 7/14 (50%), and progressive disease (PD) in 2/14 (14%) patients. Eleven (79%) patients, including 5 PR and 6 with SD, demonstrated a positive gain in ROM (range 3–94% improvement in deficit). Of 13 patients with measurable changes at 6 months, the average improvement in ROM deficit was 24.2% (IQR: 15.5% to 30.5%; p=0.011).
This trial is registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov as NCT007020689.
Malnutrition is a known complication of chronic GVHD (cGVHD), but has not been well described in the context of organ-specific manifestations and the recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria. Here, 210 cGVHD patients were analyzed, in a cross-sectional study design, for demographics, transplant-related history, clinical assessments, symptoms, function, quality-of-life, laboratory values and survival in order to determine their associations with nutritional status. Most patients had long-standing, moderate or severe cGVHD and had failed many lines of therapy. Twenty-nine percent (60/210) of subjects were malnourished, using the subjective Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) questionnaire and evaluation. No demographic or transplant characteristics were associated with malnutrition; cGVHD of the lungs, gastrointestinal (GI) tract and mouth, NIH global score, cGVHD symptoms, worse functioning, low albumin, poorer survival and low BMI were associated with malnutrition. A predictive model was developed from all variables of significance: cGVHD of the lungs, GI tract, mouth and BMI accurately predicted 84.2% of malnourished patients as well as 87.2% of well-nourished patients. The PG-SGA questionnaire may be a useful tool in diagnosing nutritional deficits in cGVHD patients undergoing one-time evaluations. Longitudinal prospective studies should assess the utility of nutritional support interventions in cGVHD.
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