Outcomes of Cord Blood Transplantation Using Reduced-Intensity Conditioning for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Study on Behalf of Eurocord and Cord Blood Committee of Cellular Therapy and Immunobiology Working Party, Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and the Societé Française de Greffe de Moelle

Outcomes after umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) are unknown. We analyzed outcomes of 68 patients with poor-risk CLL/SLL who underwent reduced-intensity (RIC) UCBT from 2004 to 2012. The median age was 57 years and median follow-up 36 months; 17 patients had del 17p/p53mutation, 19 patients had fludarabine-refractory disease, 11 relapsed after autologous stem cell transplantation, 8 had diagnosis of prolymphocytic leukemia, 4 had Richter syndrome, and 8 underwent transplantation with progressive or refractory disease. The most common RIC used was cyclophosphamide, fludarabine, and total body irradiation (TBI) in 82%; 15patients received antithymocyte globulin. Most of the cord blood grafts were HLA mismatched and 76% received a double UCBT. Median total nucleated cells collected was 4.7× 10⁷/kg. The cumulative incidences (CI) of neutrophil and platelet engraftment were 84% and 72% at 60 and 180 days respectively; day 100 graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (grade II to IV) was 43% and 3-year chronic GVHD was 32%. The CI of relapse, nonrelapse mortality, overall survival, and progression-free survival (PFS) at 3 years were 16%, 39%, 54%, and 45%, respectively. Fludarabine-sensitive disease at transplantation and use of low-dose TBI regimens were associated with acceptable PFS. In conclusion, use of RIC-UCBT seems to be feasible in patients with poor-risk CLL/SLL and improved outcomes were observed in patients with fludarabine-sensitive disease who received low-dose TBI regimens.

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