Cancer survivors who underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) face a greater risk for hospitalizations and mortality, compared with survivors who did not have HCT.
New findings show that disparities in infectious and respiratory complications were marked between the two groups, but differences in circulatory disease, mental health diagnoses, and second cancers were insignificant.
“Clinicians who care for long-term survivors of HCT should be aware of comprehensive surveillance guidelines available for this high-risk population,” wrote Eric J. Chow, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, and his colleagues (J Clin Oncol. 2016 Nov 21. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.68.8457).
There have only been a few comprehensive analyses that have compared HCT with non-HCT cancer survivors. Thus, the authors noted that it is unclear if HCT survivors are at a greater risk of late complications, compared with other cancer survivors.
To address this issue, Dr. Chow and his team matched 2-year cancer survivors who had undergone HCT (n = 1,792; 52% allogeneic and 90% hematologic malignancies) to non-HCT 2-year cancer survivors, using a state cancer registry (n = 5,455), and the general population (n = 16,340), using driver’s license files.
The investigators found that the 10-year cumulative incidence of any hospitalization or death related to all major organ-system outcomes was significantly different (P less than .05) between the HCT survivors and general population.
Patients with a history of HCT had a 30.6% cumulative incidence of infectious complications (difference vs. non-HCT: 8.7%) and a 26.8% incidence of any respiratory complications (difference vs. non-HCT: 6.9%), the investigators reported.
In contrast, the 10-year cumulative incidences of nervous system, circulatory, and genitourinary complications; mental health outcomes; and the development of new cancers did not differ between the HCT and non-HCT groups.
The incidence of pregnancy-related hospitalization among women of childbearing age was lower in the HCT group, compared with non-HCT patients (group difference, 24.4%).
At the 2-year endpoint, Dr. Chow and his associates noted that certain risks were “notably higher” in patients who had undergone HCT, including primary infections (hazard ratio, 1.4), respiratory complications (HR, 1.3), and death from any cause (HR, 1.1).
A significantly greater hospitalization rate also was observed in the HCT group versus the non-HCT group (280 episodes per 1,000 person-years vs. 173 episodes per 1,000 person years; P less than .001).
“Future work to identify more specific risk factors associated with late infections and respiratory complications may help to further refine these guidelines and identify new prevention strategies,” the authors concluded.
The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Chow had no disclosures and several coauthors report relationships with industry.