Impact of Treosulfan Exposure on Early and Long-Term Clinical Outcomes in Pediatric Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Recipients: A Prospective Multicenter Study

Abstract

Treosulfan-based conditioning has gained popularity in pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) because of its presumed favorable efficacy and toxicity profile. Treosulfan is used in standardized dosing regimens based on body surface area. The relationships between systemic treosulfan exposure and early and long-term clinical outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT for nonmalignant diseases remain unclear. In this a multicenter, prospective observational study, we assessed the association between treosulfan exposure and early and, in particular, long-term clinical outcomes. Our study cohort comprised 110 pediatric patients with nonmalignant diseases who underwent HSCT between 2011 and 2019 in Leiden, The Netherlands and Rome, Italy. Blood samples were collected, and treosulfan area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC_0-∞) was estimated as a measure of exposure. Cox proportional hazard survival analyses were performed to assess the relationships between treosulfan exposure and overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS). The predictive value of systemic treosulfan exposure for the occurrence of toxicity within 28 days was evaluated using a multivariable logistic regression analysis. In the overall cohort, OS and EFS at 2 years were 89.0% and 75.3%, respectively, with an excellent OS of 97% in children age <2 years. The occurrence of grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease, the level of 1-year whole blood chimerism, and 2-year OS and EFS were not correlated with treosulfan exposure. The occurrence of skin toxicity (odds ratio [OR], 3.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26-13.68; P = .02) and all-grade mucositis (OR, 4.43; 95% CI, 1.43-15.50; P = .02), but not grade ≥2 mucositis (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.52 to 4.58; P = .46) was related to high treosulfan exposure (>1750 mg*h/L). Our study demonstrates that standardized treosulfan-based conditioning results in a favorable OS and EFS in infants and children with nonmalignant diseases, independent of interindividual variation in treosulfan exposure. These outcomes can be achieved without the need for therapeutic drug monitoring, thereby emphasizing the advantage of treosulfan use in this category of patients. Although higher treosulfan exposure increases the risk of skin toxicity, there is no absolute necessity for therapeutic drug monitoring if proper preventive skin measures are taken. More research is needed to assess whether deescalation of treosulfan doses is possible to minimize early and long-term toxicity without compromising efficacy.

Keywords: Conditioning regimen; Nonmalignant diseases; Pediatrics; Pharmacokinetics; Treosulfan.