Autoimmune cytopenias (AIC) following allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant for acquired aplastic anaemia : a joint study of the autoimmune diseases and severe aplastic anaemia working parties (ADWP/SAAWP) of the European society for blood and marrow transplantation (EBMT)

This retrospective study explored the incidence of autoimmune cytopenia (AIC) in 530 paediatric and adult patients with acquired aplastic anaemia (aAA) who underwent first allogeneic HSCT between 2002 and 2012. AIC was a rare complication with a cumulative incidence of AIC at 1, 3, 5 and 10 years post HSCT of 2.5% (1.2–3.9 95% CI), 4.4% (2.6–6.2 95% CI), 4.6% (2.8–6.5 95% CI) and 5.1% (3.1–7.2 95% CI). Overall survival at 5 years after diagnosis of AIC was 85.9% (71–100 95% CI). Twenty-five patients were diagnosed with AIC at a median of 10.6 (2.6–91.5) months post HSCT. Eight (32%) patients were diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), seven (28%) with autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA), seven (24%) with Evans syndrome and four (16%) with autoimmune neutropenia (AIN). Treatment strategies were heterogeneous. Complete responses were seen in 12 of 25 patients, with death in three patients. In multivariable Cox analysis of a subgroup of 475 patients, peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant was associated with higher risk of AIC compared with bone marrow (BM) when conditioning regimens contained fludarabine and/or alemtuzumab (2.81 [1.06–7.49 95% CI]; p = 0.038), or anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) (2.86 [1.11–7.37 95% CI]; p = 0.029). Myeloablative conditioning was associated with a lower risk of AIC compared with reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) in fludarabine and/or alemtuzumab (0.34 [0.12–0.98 95% CI]; p = 0.046) and ATG containing regimens (0.34 [0.12–0.95 95% CI]; p = 0.04). These findings provide clinically useful information regarding the incidence of a rare and potentially life-threatening complication of allogeneic HSCT for aAA, and further support for BM as the preferred stem cell source for transplant of patients with aAA.