Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for severe aplastic anemia - experience of an institute in Taiwan

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an accepted treatment strategy for patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA). We report our experience in a general hospital in Taiwan. From March 1985 to July 2001, 79 consecutive SAA patients, 46 male and 33 female, with a median age of 22 (4-43) years, received 80 courses of transplantation. Cyclophosphamide and total body radiation were used for the conditioning regimen, and cyclosporine-A and methotrexate for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention. Patients were followed for a median of 39 months (from 8 days to 194 months). Myeloid and platelet engraftment occurred in a median of 15 (8-27) days and 18 (8-77) days, respectively. Three patients had primary and three patients secondary graft failure. Five patients (6.8%) had grade II-IV acute GVHD in 73 evaluable patients. Chronic GVHD occurred in 23 (34.8%) patients, with extensive stage in six. Only two patients had CMV disease. The projected 3- and 5-year overall survival rates estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method were 76.08 and 74.13%, respectively. Age at transplant, non-sibling donor, mononuclear cell dose, grade II-IV acute GVHD, interval from diagnosis to transplant, and red blood cell and platelet transfusion before transplant were poor prognostic factors for overall survival by univariate analysis. Grade II-IV acute GVHD was the only prognostic factor affecting overall survival after multivariate Cox regression analysis (P=0.040). In conclusion, SAA patients receiving HSCT have good long-term survival. The low incidence of acute GVHD in our patients may be related to ethnicity.