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Decision analysis of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation versus immunosuppressive therapy for young adult patients with aplastic anemia

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Abstract

Background

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from an HLA-matched sibling donor is recommended as an initial treatment for young patients. However, immunosuppressive therapy (IST) with cyclosporine and anti-thymocyte globulin may be a viable option even when an HLA-identical sibling donor is available.

Methods

We constructed a Markov model to simulate the 10-year clinical course of patients aged 21–40 years with newly diagnosed severe aplastic anemia. Immediate BMT and IST were compared as an initial treatment assuming the availability of an HLA-identical sibling donor. Transition probabilities after treatment were determined based on a registry data analysis for BMT and a long-term prospective study for IST.

Results

Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) after treatment selection were 6.77 for BMT and 6.74 for IST. One-way sensitivity analysis revealed that the utility for being alive without GVHD after BMT, that for being alive with partial response after IST, and the response rate after initial IST strongly affected the results.

Conclusions

BMT and IST produced similar QALY for young patients with severe aplastic anemia. An estimation of the response rate to the initial IST may enable an individualized comparison between BMT and IST.

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Funding

This work was supported by a Grant from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan (20FC1018).

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

YK designed research, performed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. KU, SN and HY designed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. MI, AO, YO, NO, SK, MK, NS, TS, AH, HY designed research and wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoshinobu Kanda.

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Conflict of interest

Y.K. received research support from Kyowa Kirin, Chugai Pharmaceutical, and Shionogi, and received honoraria from Sanofi, Novartis Pharma, Kyowa Kirin, Chugai Pharmaceutical, and Shionogi. K.U. received research funding from Novartis Pharma, Chugai, Astellas, and Kyowa Kirin, speaker bureaus for Novartis Pharma, Astellas, Kyowa Kirin, Sanofi, and Chugai, and consulting bureaus for Chugai, Sanofi, Kyowa Kirin, and Astellas, and Alnylam Japan. M.I. received honoraria from Sanofi, Novartis Pharma, and Kyowa Kirin. S.K. received honoraria from Sanofi, Novartis Pharma, Kyowa Kirin, and Chugai Pharmaceutical. M.K. received research funding from Astellas Pharma, Kyowa Kirin, Chugai Pharmaceutical, and Shionogi and received honoraria from Sanofi, Kyowa Kirin, Chugai Pharmaceutical, and Astellas Pharma. T.S. received honoraria from Sanofi, Novartis Pharma, Kyowa Kirin, and Chugai Pharmaceutical. H.Y. received research funding from Astellas Pharma, and received honoraria from Novartis Pharma, Kyowa Kirin, and Chugai Pharmaceutical. S.N. received honoraria from Sanofi, Novartis Pharma, Kyowa Kirin, and Chugai Pharmaceutical. H.Y. received honoraria from Novartis Pharma and Kyowa Kirin.

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Kanda, Y., Usuki, K., Inagaki, M. et al. Decision analysis of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation versus immunosuppressive therapy for young adult patients with aplastic anemia. Int J Hematol 117, 660–668 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-022-03530-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-022-03530-6

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