Publications by authors named "Nosha Farhadfar"

Background: The neutropenic diet has been a long-standing approach to preventing infection in patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs), although data on its efficacy are inconclusive and its restrictive nature might contribute to harm by reducing dietary intake in this patient population who typically experiences poor oral intake. The aim was to determine if a liberalized diet (LD), in comparison with a neutropenic hospital diet (ND), would improve energy intake and lessen weight loss during neutropenia in patients with HSCTs.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in a single-center HSCT/hematologic malignancy unit.

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To examine activity of ibrutinib in steroid-refractory chronic GVHD (SR-cGVHD) after FDA approval, we conducted a multicenter retrospective study. Data were standardly collected (N=270 from 19 centers). Involved organs included skin (75%), eye (61%), mouth (54%), joint/fascia (47%), GI (26%), lung (27%), liver (19%), genital (7%), other (4.

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  • Patients needing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation have different chances of finding an 8/8 HLA-matched unrelated donor, which can be estimated using a Search Prognosis calculator.
  • The study aimed to see if a search algorithm could equalize transplant rates between patients with a high likelihood (>90%) and low likelihood (<10%) of finding a matched donor.
  • Out of 2225 enrolled patients, 1751 were evaluable for the study, and results indicated that 55% were Very Likely, 30% Less Likely, and 16% Very Unlikely to find a match, with a follow-up median
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  • * A retrospective study analyzed data from 5,790 young patients who underwent HCT to evaluate the incidence of late effects and their associated risk factors, focusing on various health complications like avascular necrosis and diabetes.
  • * The study included patients from diverse backgrounds, revealing that 60.5% were male and most were white, with major findings regarding the timing and prevalence of complications occurring within five to seven years post-transplant.
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  • Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a serious complication after allogeneic stem cell transplants, and the PQRST study aims to find predictors for how patients respond to different treatments.
  • The study involves a prospective cohort of patients receiving systemic therapy for chronic GVHD, with assessments taken at the start and throughout treatment to track responses.
  • As of March 2024, 137 patients have been enrolled in the study, which started in July 2020, and researchers are inviting collaboration to use the collected data.
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  • - The study investigates the survival outcomes of patients receiving umbilical cord blood transplants (UCBT) across different racial and ethnic groups, focusing on Black, Latinx, White, and Asian patients, as previous research indicated disparities in survival rates.
  • - A retrospective analysis of data from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) included 983 single and 1529 double UCBT recipients, measuring outcomes like overall survival (OS), disease-free survival, and transplant-related mortality over two years.
  • - Results showed that while overall survival rates varied by race/ethnicity, with Latinx patients having significantly lower OS compared to Blacks, no significant differences were observed in child patients,
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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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A phase 1b study was conducted to evaluate the safety and feasibility of ciprofloxacin and etoposide combination treatment in subjects with relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia. Eleven subjects were enrolled in the study. Utilizing the standard '3 + 3' design, escalating ciprofloxacin doses (750 mg, 1000 mg) twice daily on D1-D10 in combination with a fixed dose (200 mg) of etoposide on D2-D8 were administered.

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Socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity have been associated with the outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Certain aspects of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) management, such as the need for long-term care, prolonged immunosuppressive treatment, and close follow-up for complications, may exacerbate disparities. Adults (≥18 years) reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research who underwent a first allo-HCT for acute leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or myeloproliferative neoplasm between 2008 and 2018 were included.

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Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is an immune-mediated disorder that causes significant late morbidity and mortality following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. The "Close Assessment and Testing for Chronic GVHD (CATCH)" study is a multi-center Chronic GVHD Consortium prospective, longitudinal cohort study designed to enroll patients before hematopoietic cell transplantation and follow them closely to capture the development of chronic GVHD and to identify clinical and biologic biomarkers of chronic GVHD onset. Data are collected pre-transplant and every two months through one-year post-transplant with chart review thereafter.

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Although unrelated-donor (URD) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is associated with many toxicities, a detailed analysis of adverse events, as defined by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), has not previously been curated. This represents a major unmet need, especially as it relates to assessing the safety of novel agents. We analyzed a detailed AE database from the "ABA2" randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of abatacept for acute graft-versus-host disease (AGVHD) prevention, for which the FDA mandated a detailed AE assessment through Day +180, and weekly neutrophil and platelet counts through Day +100.

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Chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGVHD) is divided into two subtypes: classic (absence of acute GVHD features) and overlap cGVHD ('ocGVHD'), in which both chronic and acute GVHD clinical features are present simultaneously. While worse outcomes with ocGVHD have been reported, there are few recent analyses. We performed a secondary analysis of data from the ABA2 trial (N = 185), in which detailed GVHD data were collected prospectively and systematically adjudicated.

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  • The study investigates the effects of reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens on fertility and gonadal function in adolescent and young adult survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT).
  • Researchers analyzed data from 326 patients aged 10 to 40 who underwent their first allogeneic HCT, focusing on hormonal levels as indicators of fertility potential and gonadal failure.
  • Findings revealed that a significant majority of female HCT recipients had very low levels of AMH, indicating poor fertility potential, and that RIC might have a lower incidence of detectable AMH compared to myeloablative conditioning (MAC), although impairment was still common.
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Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) remains a key treatment option for hematologic malignancies (HMs), although it carries significant risks. Up to 30% of patients relapse after allo-HSCT, of which up to 2% to 5% are donor-derived malignancies (DDMs). DDMs can arise from a germline genetic predisposition allele or clonal hematopoiesis (CH) in the donor.

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The study aimed to determine the association of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) diagnosis and severity with the development of subsequent neoplasms (SN) and nonmalignant late effects (NM-LE) in 2-year disease-free adult survivors following hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for a hematologic malignancy. To do so, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 3884 survivors of HCT for hematologic malignancy in the Center of International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research database. We conducted a landmark analysis at the 2-year post-transplantation date, comparing first SN and NM-LE in survivors with and without cGVHD.

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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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In the ABA2 study, the T-cell costimulation blockade agent, abatacept, was safe and effective in preventing acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after unrelated-donor hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT), leading to US Food and Drug Administration approval. Here, we performed a determination of abatacept pharmacokinetics (PK), which enabled an examination of how abatacept exposure-response relationships affected clinical outcomes. We performed a population PK analysis of IV abatacept using nonlinear mixed-effect modeling and assessed the association between abatacept exposure and key transplant outcomes.

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Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is the only curative treatment for several pediatric non-malignant disorders. A widely used conditioning backbone is busulfan, fludarabine, and rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (rATG). Thiotepa has improved engraftment when added to this regimen, however the minimum effective dose (MED) of thiotepa to achieve engraftment while minimizing toxicities has not been well established.

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Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is a potentially curative treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). While many factors influence the outcomes of allo-HCT, the independent impact of donor-recipient ABO mismatching remains unclear. Using the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) database, we identified patients aged ≥18 years with AML or ALL who underwent allo-HCT between 2008 and 2018.

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  • * A clinical trial involving 80 patients treated with either myeloablative or reduced-intensity conditioning demonstrated a 3-year overall survival rate of 70% for the reduced-intensity group and 62% for the myeloablative group, with no reported GVHD after one year.
  • * The findings highlight the potential benefits of PTCy in mismatched unrelated donor HCT, though further research is needed to address issues like relapse rates and optimal donor
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The use of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has been increasing in older patients. However, the levels if distress, psychosocial functioning, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among older HCT survivors remains largely unknown. In this secondary analysis using data from 2 randomized controlled trials, we analyzed baseline Cancer and Treatment Distress (CTXD) and Confidence In Survivorship Information (CSI) surveys of HCT survivors who were age ≥60 years at the time of transplantation and alive and disease-free ≥1 year post-autologous or -allogeneic HCT.

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Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020 has resulted in an unprecedented level of uncertainty and challenge for the stem cell donor registries. To address these challenges, rapid strategies were implemented by the National Marrow Donor Registry (NMDP) and its network partners. Herein, we aim to report the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the collection, utilization of grafts, and short-term outcomes of patients who received stem cell products from COVID-19-positive donors.

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Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a rare but severely debilitating drug-induced bone disorder in the jawbone region. The first MRONJ was reported in 2003 after bisphosphonate (BP) exposure. Recently, other drugs, such as receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) inhibitor denosumab and antiangiogenic agents, were also associated with MRONJ.

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