Patient-reported physical well-being predicts good long-term survival of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

This study aimed to explore the association between patient-reported items at different time points after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and long-term survival.

We conducted a study with 144 allogeneic HSCT patients, following them for 5 years post-transplantation. Data from the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplant (FACT-BMT) questionnaire were collected before transplantation and at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 36, and 60 months after transplantation. Demographic characteristics and survival status were also assessed.

Among the 144 cases, the 5-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), non-relapse mortality (NRM), and graft-versus-host disease-free (GRFS) rates were 65%, 48%, 17%, and 36% respectively. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) showed a fluctuating pattern over 5 years. Using a latent class mixed model, patients were classified into two groups based on their physical well-being (PWB) scores during the 60-month follow-up. Class 1 had initially lower PWB scores, which gradually increased over time. In contrast, Class 2 maintained higher PWB scores with slight increases over time. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that Class 1 had better OS (70.9% vs. 52.9%, p = 0.021), PFS (60.5% vs. 41.2%, p = 0.039), and GRFS (35.1% vs. 29.3%, p = 0.035) compared to Class 2.

Patients who had higher initial PWB scores after HSCT demonstrated improved long-term survival outcomes. The PWB score could serve as a valuable predictor for the prognosis of HSCT.