Outcomes of Patients with Early Hyperbilirubinemia after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Background: Because the cause of liver dysfunction after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is difficult to identify in the early stages, treatment may be delayed. Therefore, early factors associated with unfavorable outcomes of liver dysfunction must be identified. The objective of this study was to identify unfavorable prognostic factors for liver dysfunction during the early period after transplantation.

Methods: We defined liver dysfunction as elevated liver or biliary enzyme levels (corresponding to Grade 2 in the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0) within 30 days of transplantation and retrospectively investigated data from 82 patients who had undergone allogeneic HSCT at our center.

Results: Elevated liver or biliary enzyme levels were observed in almost half of the patients studied (n=40, 48.7%). Elevated total bilirubin (T-Bil) level was the most frequently observed unfavorable prognostic factor and had the greatest effect on overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and non-relapse mortality (NRM) (probability of unfavorable outcome in patients without and with elevated T-Bil level: OS, 58.9% vs. 15.4%, p < 0.001; PFS, 46.4% vs. 15.4%, p < 0.001; NRM, 10.7% vs. 53.8%, p < 0.001). Moreover, the probability of an unfavorable outcome increased in relation to the degree of T-Bil elevation and absence of improvement over time in T-Bil level.

Conclusion: Elevated T-Bil level was an important marker of outcomes for liver dysfunction after allogeneic HSCT.