The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) maintains a registry of approximately 4 million volunteer unrelated donors for patients in need of a stem cell transplant. When several comparably HLA-matched volunteers are identified for a patient, various criteria are used to select a donor. A retrospective analysis of 6978 bone marrow transplantations facilitated by the NMDP from 1987 to 1999 was conducted to study the effects of various donor characteristics on recipient outcome. The evaluation addressed possible effects of donor age, cytomegalovirus serologic status, ABO compatibility, race, sex, and parity on overall and diseasefree survival, acute and chronic graftversus-host disease (GVHD), engraftment, and relapse. Age was the only donor trait significantly associated with overall and disease-free survival. Fiveyear overall survival rates for recipients were 33%, 29%, and 25%, respectively, with donors aged 18 to 30 years, 31 to 45 years, and more than 45 years (P ‫؍‬ .0002). A similar effect was observed among HLA-mismatched cases (28%, 22%, and 19%, respectively). A race mismatch between recipient and donor did not affect outcome. The cumulative incidences of grade III or IV acute GVHD were 30%, 34%, and 34%, respectively, with donors aged 18 to 30 years, 31 to 45 years, and more than 45 years (P ‫؍‬ .005). The corresponding incidences of chronic GVHD at 2 years were 44%, 48%, and 49% (P ‫؍‬ 0.02). Recipients with female donors who had undergone multiple pregnancies had a higher rate of chronic GVHD than recipients with male donors (54% versus 44%; P < .0001). The use of younger donors may lower the incidence of GVHD and improve survival after bone marrow transplantation. Age should be considered when selecting among comparably HLA-

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Multivariate proportional hazards regression was used to compare outcome by donor type and identify other prognostic factors. Most transplant recipients were younger than 5 years (79%), had a pretransplantation performance score greater than or equal to 90% (63%), received pretransplantation preparative regimens without radiation (82%), and had non-Tcell-depleted grafts (77%). Eighty percent received their transplant after 1986. The 5-year probability of survival (95% confidence interval) for all subjects was 70% (63%-77%). Probabilities differed by donor type: 87% (74%-93%) with HLAidentical sibling donors, 52% (37%-65%) with other related donors, and 71% (58%-80%) with unrelated donors (P ‫؍‬ .0006).

Compared to 2011, WB and RBC collections declined significantly in 2013 and disproportionately to the significant reductions in WB and RBC transfusions. Distributions of PLTs and plasma for transfusion declined in 2013, as did transfusions of plasma, while transfusion of PLTs increased significantly. Decreases in outdated and wasted components by hospitals suggest improvements in product and inventory management. Ongoing national surveys allow for trend analysis and are important for future planning.

• Children with sickle cell disease engrafted unrelated donor marrow after reduced intensity conditioning.• A high incidence of GVHD and associated mortality compromised safety of the trial.Children with sickle cell disease experience organ damage, impaired quality of life, and premature mortality. Allogeneic bone marrow transplant from an HLA-matched sibling can halt disease progression but is limited by donor availability. A Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) phase 2 trial conducted from 2008 to 2014 enrolled 30 children aged 4 to 19 years; 29 were eligible for evaluation. The primary objective was 1-year event-free survival (EFS) after HLA allele-matched (at HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 loci) unrelated donor transplant. The conditioning regimen included alemtuzumab, fludarabine, and melphalan. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis included calcineurin inhibitor, short-course methotrexate, and methylprednisolone. Transplant indications included stroke (n 5 12), transcranial Doppler velocity >200 cm/s (n 5 2), ‡3 vaso-occlusive pain crises per year (n 5 12), or ‡2 acute chest syndrome episodes (n 5 4) in the 2 years preceding enrollment. Median follow-up was 26 months (range, 12-62 months); graft rejection was 10%. The 1-and 2-year EFS rates were 76% and 69%, respectively. The corresponding rates for overall survival were 86% and 79%. The day 100 incidence rate of grade II-IV acute GVHD was 28%, and the 1-year incidence rate of chronic GVHD was 62%; 38% classified as extensive. There were 7 GVHD-related deaths. A 34% incidence of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome was noted in the first 6 months. Although the 1-year EFS met the prespecified target of ‡75%, this regimen cannot be considered sufficiently safe for widespread adoption without modifications to achieve more effective GVHD prophylaxis.

The Sickle Cell Unrelated donor Transplant trial (SCURT trial) of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) is a phase II study of the toxicity and efficacy of unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation in children with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) using a reduced intensity conditioning regimen. Here we report the results for the cord blood cohort of this trial. Eight children with severe SCD underwent unrelated donor cord blood transplantation (CBT) following alemtuzumab, fludarabine and melphalan. Cyclosporine or tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil were administered for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. Donor/recipient HLA match status was 6/6 (n=1) or 5/6 (n=7), based on low/intermediate resolution molecular typing at HLA -A, -B, and high resolution typing at -DRB1. Median recipient age was 13.7 years (range 7.4 to 16.2 years), and median weight was 35.0 kg (range 25.2 to 90.2 kg). The median pre-cryopreservation total nucleated cell dose was 6.4 × 107 /kg (range 3.1 to 7.6) and the median post-thaw infused CD34 cell dose was 1.5 × 105 /kg (range 0.2 to 2.3). All patients achieved neutrophil recovery (ANC>500/mm3) by day 33 (median 22 days). Three patients who engrafted had 100% donor cells by day 100, which was sustained and five patients had autologous hematopoietic recovery. Six of eight patients had a platelet recovery to > 50,000/mm3 by day 100. Two patients developed grade II acute GVHD. Of these, one developed extensive chronic GVHD and died of respiratory failure 14 months post-transplant. With a median follow up of 1.8 years (range 1 – 2.6), 7 patients are alive with a 1-year survival of 100% and 3 of 8 are alive without graft failure or disease recurrence. Conclusion Based upon the high incidence of graft rejection after unrelated donor CBT, enrollment onto the cord blood arm of the SCURT trial was suspended. However, since this reduced intensity regimen has demonstrated a favorable safety profile, this trial remains open to enrollment for unrelated marrow donor transplants. Novel approaches aimed at improving engraftment will be needed before unrelated CBT can be widely adopted for transplanting patients with severe SCD.

We conducted a prospective, multicenter investigation of human-leukocyte antigen (HLA) identical sibling bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in children with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) between 1991 and 2000. To determine if children were protected from complications of SCD after successful BMT, we extended our initial study of BMT for SCD to conduct assessments of the central nervous system (CNS) and of pulmonary function 2 or more years after transplantation. In addition, the impact on gonadal function was studied. After BMT, patients with stroke who had stable engraftment of donor cells experienced no subsequent stroke events after BMT, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams demonstrated stable or improved appearance. However, 2 patients with graft rejection had a second stroke after BMT. After transplantation, most patients also had unchanged or improved pulmonary function. Among the 11 patients who had restrictive lung changes at baseline, 5 were improved and 6 had persistent restrictive disease after BMT. Of the 2 patients who had obstructive changes at baseline, 1 improved and 1 had worsened obstructive disease after BMT. There was, however, significant gonadal toxicity after BMT, particularly among female recipients. In summary, individuals who had stable donor engraftment did not experience sickle-related complications after BMT, and were protected from progressive CNS and pulmonary disease.

Matching for HLA class I alleles, including HLA-C, is an important criterion for outcome of unrelated donor transplantation. However, haplotype-mismatched transplantations for myeloid malignancies, mismatched for killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) ligands in the graft-versus-host (GVH) direction, is associated with lower rates of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), relapse, and mortality. This study investigated the effect of KIR ligand mismatching on the outcome of unrelated donor transplantation. The outcomes after 1571 unrelated donor transplantations for myeloid malignancies where donor-recipient pairs were HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 matched (n = 1004), GVH KIR ligand-mismatched (n = 137), host-versus-graft (HVG) KIR ligand-mismatched (n = 170), and HLA-B and/or -C-mismatched but KIR ligand-matched (n = 260) were compared using Cox regression models. Treatment-related mortality (TRM), treatment failure, and overall mortality were lowest after matched transplantations. Patients who received grafts from donors mismatched at the KIR ligand in the GVH or HVG direction and mismatched at HLA-B and/or C but matched at the KIR ligand had similar rates of TRM, treatment failure, and overall mortality. There were no differences in leukemia recurrence between the 4 groups. These results do not support the choice of an unrelated donor on the basis of KIR ligand mismatch determined from HLA typing.