Purpose We aimed to determine the current application and survival trends of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) among Korean children and adolescents with cancer.
Materials and Methods Data of patients aged < 20 years with KCD-10 (Korean Classifications of Diseases, 10th revision) C codes and specific designation codes were collected from the National Health Insurance Service database. Thirty claim codes for HSCT were included, and data from 2009 to 2019 were analyzed.
Results The operational definition of pediatric cancer yielded an annual average of 2,000, with annual cases decreasing. In 2019, 221 HSCTs were performed, a decrease from the ten-year average of 276. Allografts outnumbered autografts with a ratio of 1.5:1. The source of allograft was bone marrow in 15% of patients in 2009; however, it substantially decreased to 3.3% in 2019. Furthermore, 70.5% of allogeneic HSCT used peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) grafts, which increased to 89.3% by 2015. Cord blood utilization markedly decreased to 2.7% in 2018. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of all patients was 85.1%. Overall mortality decreased among patients who underwent recent HSCT, and they exhibited a higher 5-year OS rate.
Conclusion In Korea, the number of pediatric patients with cancer is declining; however, the ratio of transplants to all patients remains constant. Patients who recently underwent transplantation showed better survival rates, possibly due to HSCT optimization. Korea showed a substantially greater PBSC utilization in pediatric HSCT. An in-depth examination encompassing donor relations and cause of death with a prospective registry is required in future studies.
Jung Yoon Choi, Che Ry Hong, Kyung Taek Hong, Hyoung Jin Kang, Seongkoo Kim, Jae Wook Lee, Pil Sang Jang, Nack-Gyun Chung, Bin Cho, Hyery Kim, Kyung-Nam Koh, Ho Joon Im, Jong Jin Seo, Seung Min Hahn, Jung Woo Han, Chuhl Joo Lyu, Eu Jeen Yang, Young Tak Lim, Keon Hee Yoo, Hong Hoe Koo, Hoon Kook, In Sang Jeon, Hana Cho, Hee Young Shin
Cancer Res Treat. 2021;53(4):1184-1194. Published online January 4, 2021
Purpose Effectiveness and safety of clofarabine (one of the treatment mainstays in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL]) was assessed in Korean pediatric patients with ALL to facilitate conditional coverage with evidence development.
Materials and Methods In this multicenter, prospective, observational study, patients receiving clofarabine as mono/combination therapy were followed up every 4-6 weeks for 6 months or until hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Response rates, survival outcomes, and adverse events were assessed.
Results Sixty patients (2-26 years old; 65% B-cell ALL, received prior ≥ 2 regimen, 68.3% refractory to previous regimen) were enrolled and treated with at least one dose of clofarabine; of whom 26 (43.3%) completed 6 months of follow-up after the last dose of clofarabine. Fifty-eight patients (96.7%) received clofarabine combination therapy. Overall remission rate (complete remission [CR] or CR without platelet recovery [CRp]) was 45.0% (27/60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 32.4 to 57.6) and the overall response rate (CR, CRp, or partial remission [PR]) was 46.7% (28/60; 95% CI, 34.0 to 59.3), with 11 (18.3%), 16 (26.7%), and one (1.7%) patients achieving CR, CRp, and PR, respectively. The median time to remission was 5.1 weeks (95% CI, 4.7 to 6.1). Median duration of remission was 16.6 weeks (range, 2.0 to 167.6 weeks). Sixteen patients (26.7%) proceeded to HSCT. There were 24 deaths; 14 due to treatment-emergent adverse events.
Conclusion Remission with clofarabine was observed in approximately half of the study patients who had overall expected safety profile; however, there was no favorable long-term survival outcome in this study.
Patient-Level Meta-analysis of Clofarabine in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Sima Jeha, Hiroaki Goto, André Baruchel, Emmanuelle Boëlle-Le Corfec, Christine Geffriaud-Ricouard, Rob Pieters, Hee Young Shin Advances in Therapy.2023; 40(12): 5447. CrossRef
Novel Treatments for Pediatric Relapsed or Refractory Acute B-Cell Lineage Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Precision Medicine Era Shang Mengxuan, Zhou Fen, Jin Runming Frontiers in Pediatrics.2022;[Epub] CrossRef