Purpose of Review
Due to lack of pediatric-specific data, the management of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in pediatric, adolescents, and young adults is guided by adult CML evidence-based recommendations. Pediatric CML presents differently than adult CML and is often a more aggressive disease with different biological and host factors, yet there is sparse literature on how to address those differences.
Recent Findings
Over the past two decades, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have changed the way CML is treated. There are currently three FDA-approved TKIs (imatinib, dasatinib, and nilotinib) for pediatric patients. When choosing which TKI to begin treatment with, there are many factors that should be considered on a case-to-case basis to obtain optimal outcomes. The safety profiles for long-term TKI use in pediatrics require further study. Unlike adults, children are still actively growing during TKI use, and the effect on development can be detrimental. TKI therapy is not recommended during pregnancy with variable but significant risk of fetal abnormalities and miscarriage, warranting counseling for young female patients prior to beginning TKIs. Attempts for treatment-free remission (TFR) by planned TKI cessation in eligible adult patients in deep and sustained molecular remission are now done as a standard of practice. However, data is sparse in the pediatric population. There is currently an ongoing Children’s Oncology Group (COG) study to determine the feasibility of TFR as a treatment goal.
Summary
Further research and additional pediatric trials are needed to characterize the unique aspects of CML in children and adolescents and optimize outcomes.
Background
Pediatric Epstein‐Barr virus–negative monomorphic post solid organ transplant lymphoproliferative disorder [EBV(−)M‐PTLD] comprises approximately 10% of M‐PTLD. No large multi‐institutional pediatric‐specific reports on treatment and outcome are available.
Methods
A multi‐institutional retrospective review of solid organ recipients diagnosed with EBV(−)M‐PTLD aged ≤21 years between 2001 and 2020 in 12 centers in the United States and United Kingdom was performed, including demographics, staging, treatment, and outcomes data.
Results
Thirty‐six patients were identified with EBV(−)M‐PTLD. Twenty‐three (63.9%) were male. Median age (range) at transplantation, diagnosis of EBV(−)M‐PTLD, and interval from transplant to PTLD were 2.2 years (0.1–17), 14 years (3.0–20), and 8.5 years (0.6–18.3), respectively. Kidney (n = 17 [47.2%]) and heart (n = 13 [36.1%]) were the most commonly transplanted organs. Most were Murphy stage III (n = 25 [69.4%]). Lactate dehydrogenase was elevated in 22/34 (64.7%) and ≥2 times upper limit of normal in 11/34 (32.4%). Pathological diagnoses included diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (n = 31 [86.1%]) and B–non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (B‐NHL) not otherwise specified (NOS) (n = 5 [13.9%]). Of nine different regimens used, the most common were: pediatric mature B–NHL‐specific regimen (n = 13 [36.1%]) and low‐dose cyclophosphamide, prednisone, and rituximab (n = 9 [25%]). Median follow‐up from diagnosis was 3.0 years (0.3–11.0 years). Three‐year event‐free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 64.8% and 79.9%, respectively. Of the seven deaths, six were from progressive disease.
Conclusions
EFS and OS were comparable to pediatric EBV(+) PTLD, but inferior to mature B‐NHL in immunocompetent pediatric patients. The wide range of therapeutic regimens used directs our work toward developing an active multi‐institutional registry to design prospective studies.
Plain Language Summary
Pediatric Epstein‐Barr virus–negative monomorphic post solid organ transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (EBV(−)M‐PTLD) have comparable outcomes to EBV(+) PTLD, but are inferior to diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma in immunocompetent pediatric patients.
The variety of treatment regimens used highlights the need to develop a pediatric PTLD registry to prospectively evaluate outcomes.
The impact of treatment regimen on relapse risk could not be assessed because of small numbers.
In the intensive pediatric B–non‐Hodgkin lymphoma chemoimmunotherapy group, 11 of 13 patients remain alive in complete remission after 0.6 to 11 years.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.