Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant in patients previously diagnosed with invasive aspergillosis

Patients previously diagnosed with invasive aspergillosis (IA) have been considered to be at risk for relapse of mycosis during subsequent hematopoietic transplant. Even with prophylactic measures, reactivation of the infection occurs in 29% of patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT). A period of neutropenia is one of the variables considered to be a risk factor for reactivation. Peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT) results in a shorter neutropenia period leading to a lower risk of fungal infection. A retrospective data analysis performed on patients undergoing autologous PBSCT for hematological malignancies in our unit showed that nine patients were diagnosed before transplantation with IA. All patients received only medical treatment during their primary infection. Medical prophylaxis was administered in seven of these patients, and two underwent transplantation without prophylaxis. All patients developed severe neutropenia after a myeloablative regimen. All but one had neutropenic fever, although the fever was controlled and no fungal complications occurred. All patients in this series achieved complete hematological engraftment without delay in granulocyte recovery (mean: 8.78 vs 9.76; p=0.58). No significant differences were observed in toxicities with regards to transplantation between patients previously diagnosed with IA and their controls. Recurrence of IA related to transplantation was avoided since no relapse of IA was demonstrated. This series of nine patients with a previous history of IA shows that medical treatment, secondary prophylaxis, and peripheral blood as a source of stem cells could be effective measures to avoid reactivation of previous aspergillosis during hematopoietic transplantation, although prospective randomized trials should still be performed to confirm these findings in a wider setting.