Trends in Late Mortality and Life Expectancy After Autologous Blood or Marrow Transplantation Over Three Decades: A BMTSS Report
Smita Bhatia, Chen Dai, Wendy Landier, Lindsey Hageman, Jessica Wu, Elizabeth Schlichting, Arianna Siler, Erin Funk, Jessica Hicks, Shawn Lim, Nora Balas, Alysia Bosworth, Hok Sreng Te, Liton Francisco, Ravi Bhatia, Donna Salzman, Frederick D. Goldman, Stephen J. Forman, Daniel J. Weisdorf, F. Lennie Wong, Saro H. Armenian, Mukta Arora
Abstract
PURPOSE We determined trends in life expectancy and cause-specific late mortality after autologous blood or marrow transplantation (BMT) performed over a 30-year period, using the BMT Survivor Study. METHODS We constructed a cohort of 4,702 individuals with hematologic neoplasms who lived ≥ 2 years after autologous BMT performed between 1981 and 2014 at three transplant centers. The end of follow-up was April 19, 2021. The primary exposure variable was autologous BMT performed in four eras: 1981-1999; 2000-2005; 2006-2010; and 2011-2014. Vital status and cause of death were obtained from National Death Index Plus program and Accurinct databases. RESULTS The median age at BMT was 53 years (range, 0-78 years), 58.7% were male, 67.8% were non-Hispanic White, and 28.3% had undergone transplantation between 2011 and 2014. Autologous BMT recipients experienced a 7-year reduction in life expectancy. The adjusted hazard of 5-year all-cause mortality declined over the four eras (reference: 1981-1999; hazard ratio [HR] 2000-2005 = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.94; HR 2006-2010 = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.79; HR 2011-2014 = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.71; P trend < .001), as did years of life lost (5.0 years to 1.6 years). The reduction in all-cause mortality was most pronounced among those transplanted for Hodgkin lymphoma or plasma cell dyscrasias, but was not observed among those transplanted for non-Hodgkin lymphoma or those conditioned with total-body irradiation. We also observed a decline in late deaths because of infection ( P trend < .0001; primarily for BMTs before 2006) and subsequent neoplasms ( P trend = .03; confined to decline in therapy-related myeloid neoplasm–related mortality) but not because of cardiovascular or renal disease. CONCLUSION Late mortality among autologous BMT recipients has declined over a 30-year period. However, ongoing efforts are needed to mitigate development of infections, subsequent neoplasms, and cardiovascular and renal disease to further reduce late mortality.