Publications by authors named "Baldeep Wirk"

Immunosuppressive therapy for acquired severe aplastic anemia improves pancytopenia but has a significant risk of relapse (40%) and clonal evolution to myeloid neoplasms (15%), especially in patients older than 40. Yet, current guidelines for newly diagnosed severe aplastic anemia patients over the age of 40 recommend immunosuppressive therapy instead of curative allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Upfront allogeneic stem cell transplants are restricted to the rare patient who is not only young but also has a matched sibling donor.

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  • - The study analyzed how different types of donors affect outcomes of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients with myelofibrosis, finding that the use of haploidentical donors rose significantly from 3% in 2013 to 19% in 2019.
  • - Among 1,032 patients with chronic-phase myelofibrosis, matched sibling donor HCTs showed better overall survival in the first three months compared to haploidentical and matched unrelated donor HCTs, with notably lower rates of graft failure.
  • - While matched sibling donors had superior early outcomes, there were no significant differences in long-term survival or disease-free survival among the different donor types, suggesting hap
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  • There has been an increase in the number of hematopoietic cell transplants (HCT) and improvement in overall survival after these procedures for blood disorders, but the impact on racial/ethnic minorities is unclear.
  • A study examined transplant rates and survival trends among non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic African Americans, and Hispanics from 2009 to 2018, revealing that Hispanics and non-Hispanic African Americans experienced higher rates of transplant than non-Hispanic Whites.
  • Despite overall improvements in survival rates across groups, non-Hispanic African Americans faced greater mortality risks after allogeneic transplants, indicating ongoing disparities that need to be addressed.
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Chimerism analysis is used to evaluate patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) for engraftment and minimal measurable residual disease (MRD) monitoring. A combination of short-tandem repeat (STR) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was required to achieve both sensitivity and accuracy in the patients with various chimerism statuses. In this study, an insertion/deletion-based multiplex chimerism assay by next generation sequencing (NGS) was evaluated using 5 simulated unrelated donor-recipient combinations from 10 volunteers.

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Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare hematological malignancy with a poor prognosis and considered incurable with conventional chemotherapy. Small observational studies reported allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) offers durable remissions in patients with BPDCN. We report an analysis of patients with BPDCN who received an allo-HCT, using data reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

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Racial/ethnic minorities have demonstrated worse survival after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) compared to whites. Whether the racial disparity in HCT outcomes persists in long-term survivors and possibly may be even exacerbated in this population, which frequently transitions back from the transplant center to their local healthcare providers, is unknown. In the current study, we compared long-term outcomes among 1-year allogeneic HCT survivors by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES).

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a devastating blood cancer with poor prognosis. Novel effective treatment is an urgent unmet need. Immunotherapy targeting T cell exhaustion by blocking inhibitory pathways, such as PD-1, is promising in cancer treatment.

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  • Researchers created a prognostic model to predict outcomes for patients with myelofibrosis undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation by analyzing data from 623 patients in the U.S. (CIBMTR cohort) from 2000 to 2016.
  • They identified key factors that influence mortality, assigning weighted scores based on age, donor matching, hemoglobin levels, and donor compatibility, which resulted in differing survival rates among low, intermediate, and high score groupings.
  • The model was validated in a European cohort (EBMT), proving effective for predicting overall survival and transplant-related mortality, aiding clinicians in discussing transplantation prospects with myelofibrosis patients.
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Consolidation with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has improved survival for patients with central nervous system tumors (CNSTs). The impact of the autologous graft CD34+ dose on patient outcomes is unknown. We wanted to analyze the relationship between CD34 dose, total nucleated cell (TNC) dose, and clinical outcomes, including overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), relapse, non-relapse mortality (NRM), endothelial-injury complications (EIC), and time to neutrophil engraftment in children undergoing autologous HSCT for CNSTs.

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  • Overall survival rates for multiple myeloma have greatly improved due to advanced treatments like proteasome inhibitors and autologous stem cell transplants.
  • However, there's an increased risk of developing second primary malignancies (SPM) and second hematological malignancies (SHM) after these treatments, affecting patients' post-transplant health.
  • A study showed that patients who developed SPM and SHM had significantly lower progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), highlighting the need for ongoing monitoring of these risks in survivorship care.
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Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) remains the only curative treatment for myelofibrosis. However, the optimal conditioning regimen either with reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) or myeloablative conditioning (MAC) is not well known. Using the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research database, we identified adults aged ≥18 years with myelofibrosis undergoing allo-HCT between 2008-2019 and analyzed the outcomes separately in the RIC and MAC cohorts based on the conditioning regimens used.

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Introduction: Haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) in adults is an intensive medical procedure for a variety of haematological malignancies. Although there is a large body of evidence demonstrating the negative effects of HSCT on physical function and psychosocial parameters, there is limited evidence on the impact of HSCT on body composition and bone health. Further, aerobic and resistance-training exercise interventions aimed at improving physical function and patient-reported outcomes largely take place during the peritransplant and post-transplant period.

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Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is common after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT). The determination of incidence, risk factors, and impact of CDI on alloHCT outcomes is an unmet need. The study examines all patients aged 2 years and older who received first alloHCT for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) between 2013 and 2018 at US centers and reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) data registry.

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Full donor T-cell chimerism (FDTCC) after allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) has been associated with improved outcomes in hematologic malignancy. We studied if donor human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatch improves achievement of FDTCC because mismatched HLA promotes donor T-cell proliferation where recipient T-cells had been impaired by previous treatment. Patients (N = 138) received allo-SCT with reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) from 39 HLA mismatched donors (16 unrelated; 23 haploidentical) with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) or 99 matched donors (21 siblings; 78 unrelated) with PTCy (N = 18) or non-PTCy (N = 81).

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Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is a curative procedure for hematologic malignancies but is associated with a significant risk of non-relapse mortality (NRM). The Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation-Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI) is a prognostic tool that discriminates this risk in all age groups. A recent survey of transplant physicians demonstrated that 79% of pediatric providers used the HCT-CI infrequently, and most reported concerns about its applicability in the younger population.

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Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can cure many nonmalignant conditions, but concern for morbidity and mortality remains. To help physicians estimate patient-specific transplant mortality risk, the HCT comorbidity index (HCT-CI) is used. However, pediatric physicians use the HCT-CI less frequently than adult counterparts.

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We investigated the impact of the number of induction/consolidation cycles on outcomes of 3113 adult AML patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) between 2008 and 2019. Patients received allo-HCT using myeloablative (MAC) or reduced-intensity (RIC) conditioning in first complete remission (CR) or with primary induction failure (PIF). Patients who received MAC allo-HCT in CR after 1 induction cycle had 1.

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Post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) has been shown to effectively control graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in haploidentical (Haplo) transplantations. In this retrospective registry study, we compared GvHD organ distribution, severity, and outcomes in patients with GvHD occurring after Haplo transplantation with PTCy GvHD prophylaxis (Haplo/PTCy) versus HLA-matched unrelated donor transplantation with conventional prophylaxis (MUD/conventional). We evaluated 2 cohorts: patients with grade 2 to 4 acute GvHD (aGvHD) including 264 and 1163 recipients of Haplo and MUD transplants; and patients with any chronic GvHD (cGvHD) including 206 and 1018 recipients of Haplo and MUD transplants, respectively.

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  • The study investigates the effects of post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) on immune reconstitution in patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), focusing on T cell function and composition.
  • Results showed that PTCy significantly delayed T cell reconstitution, increasing regulatory T cells (Tregs) while decreasing naïve T cells, leading to a distinct immune signature compared to those who did not receive PTCy.
  • The research also found that the presence of multiple inhibitory receptors on T cells and the persistence of PD-1 on CD8 T cells correlated with worse clinical outcomes, such as disease relapse and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).
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  • Noninfectious pulmonary toxicity (NPT) is a serious complication of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) that includes conditions like idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS), diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), and cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP), with a 1-year cumulative incidence of about 8.1%.
  • A study evaluated NPT's incidence and risk factors among 21,574 adult patients who underwent alloHCT from 2008 to 2017, revealing that factors such as severe pulmonary comorbidity, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and mismatched donor transplants significantly increase the risk of NPT.
  • The findings emphasize that understanding these risk factors
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