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Infections

Impact of Epstein Barr virus-related complications after high-risk allo-SCT in the era of pre-emptive rituximab

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 50, pages 579–584 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

We monitored 133 high-risk allo-SCT recipients for 6 months after transplant for EBV reactivation by quantitative real-time PCR. Rituximab was given as pre-emptive therapy for viremia >1000 copies/mL. The 1-year cumulative incidence of EBV reactivation was 29.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 18–40) in patients monitored due to initial high-risk characteristics (n=93) and 31.8% (95% CI: 19.7–44) in those followed because of the development of refractory GVHD (n=40). Overall response rate to Rituximab was 83%. Nine patients (9.6%) developed post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) at a median of +62 days after SCT. Eight of them showed a concomitant CMV reactivation. Second SCT was the only risk factor associated with EBV infection and PTLD in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio (HR) 2.6 (95% CI: 1.1–6.4; P=0.04) and HR 6.4 (95%CI: 1.3–32; P=0.02)). The development of EBV reactivation was not associated with non-relapse mortality or OS (P=0.97 and P=0.84, respectively).

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Author notes

  1. D Valcárcel and J Sierra: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, José Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, IIB Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    I García-Cadenas, R Martino, A Esquirol, S Novelli, A Garrido, S Saavedra, C Moreno, M Granell, J Briones, S Brunet, F Navarro, N Rabella & J Sierra

  2. Hospital Vall d’Hebrón, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    N Castillo, P Barba, G Orti, I Ruiz & D Valcárcel

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  1. I García-Cadenas
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  2. N Castillo
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Correspondence to I García-Cadenas.

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García-Cadenas, I., Castillo, N., Martino, R. et al. Impact of Epstein Barr virus-related complications after high-risk allo-SCT in the era of pre-emptive rituximab. Bone Marrow Transplant 50, 579–584 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2014.298

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