Browsing by Author "Braun, Thomas M."

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    Baseline body mass index among children and adults undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: clinical characteristics and outcomes
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2015-03) Gleimer, Michael; Li, Yumeng; Chang, Lawrence; Paczesny, Sophie; Hanauer, David A.; Frame, David G.; Byersdorfer, Craig A.; Reddy, Pavan R.; Braun, Thomas M.; Choi, Sung Won; Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
    Obesity is an important public health problem that may influence the outcomes of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). We studied 898 children and adults receiving first-time allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants between 2004 and 2012. Pre-transplant body mass index (BMI) was classified as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese using the WHO classification, or age-adjusted BMI percentiles for children. The study population was predominantly Caucasian, and the median age was 51 years (5 months – 73 years). The cumulative 3-year incidence of non-relapse mortality (NRM) in underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese patients was 20%, 19%, 20%, and 33%, respectively. Major causes of NRM were acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The corresponding incidence of relapse was 30%, 41%, 37%, and 30%, respectively. Three-year overall survival was 59%, 48%, 47%, and 43%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that obesity was associated with higher NRM (HR 1.43, p=0.04), and lower relapse (HR 0.65, p=0.002). Pre-transplant plasma levels of ST2 and TNFR1 biomarkers were significantly higher in obese compared with normal weight patients (p=0.04 and p=0.05, respectively). The increase in NRM observed in obese patients was partially offset by lower incidence of relapse with no difference in overall survival.
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    ST2 as a Marker for Risk of Therapy-Resistant Graft-versus-Host Disease and Death
    (Massachusetts Medical Society, 2013) Vander Lugt, Mark T.; Braun, Thomas M.; Hanash, Samir; Ritz, Jerome; Ho, Vincent T.; Antin, Joseph H.; Zhang, Qing; Wong, Chee-Hong; Wang, Hong; Chin, Alice; Gomez, Aurélie; Harris, Andrew C.; Levine, John E.; Choi, Sung W.; Couriel, Daniel; Reddy, Pavan; Ferrara, James L. M.; Paczesny, Sophie; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Background: No plasma biomarkers are associated with the response of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) to therapy after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Methods: We compared 12 biomarkers in plasma obtained a median of 16 days after therapy initiation from 10 patients with a complete response by day 28 after therapy initiation and in plasma obtained from 10 patients with progressive GVHD during therapy. The lead biomarker, suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2), was measured at the beginning of treatment for GVHD in plasma from 381 patients and during the first month after transplantation in three independent sets totaling 673 patients to determine the association of this biomarker with treatment-resistant GVHD and 6-month mortality after treatment or transplantation. Results: Of the 12 markers, ST2 had the most significant association with resistance to GVHD therapy and subsequent death without relapse. As compared with patients with low ST2 values at therapy initiation, patients with high ST2 values were 2.3 times as likely to have treatment-resistant GVHD (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5 to 3.6) and 3.7 times as likely to die within 6 months after therapy (95% CI, 2.3 to 5.9). Patients with low ST2 values had lower mortality without relapse than patients with high ST2 values, regardless of the GVHD grade (11% vs. 31% among patients with grade I or II GVHD and 14% vs. 67% among patients with grade III or IV GVHD, P<0.001 for both comparisons). Plasma ST2 values at day 14 after transplantation were associated with 6-month mortality without relapse, regardless of the intensity of the conditioning regimen. Conclusions: ST2 levels measured at the initiation of therapy for GVHD and during the first month after transplantation improved risk stratification for treatment-resistant GVHD and death without relapse after transplantation.