Survival in primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, 2016 to 2021: etoposide is better than its reputation

Svea Böhm, Katharina Wustrau, Jana Pachlopnik Schmid, Seraina Prader, Martina Ahlmann, Joanne Yacobovich, Rita Beier, Carsten Speckmann, Wolfgang Behnisch, Marianne Ifversen, Michael Jordan, Rebecca Marsh, Nora Naumann-Bartsch, Christine Mauz-Körholz, Manfred Hönig, Ansgar Schulz, Iwona Malinowska, Melissa Hines, Kim E. Nichols, Juana Gil-HerreraJulie An Talano, Bruce Crooks, Renata Formankova, Norbert Jorch, Shahrzad Bakhtiar, Ingrid Kühnle, Monika Streiter, Michaela Nathrath, Alexandra Russo, Matthias Dürken, Peter Lang, Caroline Lindemans, Jan Inge Henter, Kai Lehmberg, Stephan Ehl*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (pHLH) is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory syndrome that develops mainly in patients with genetic disorders of lymphocyte cytotoxicity and X-linked lymphoproliferative syndromes. Previous studies with etoposide-based treatment followed by hematopoetic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) resulted in 5-year survival of 50% to 59%. Contemporary data are lacking. We evaluated 88 patients with pHLH documented in the international HLH registry from 2016-2021. In 12 of 88 patients, diagnosis was made without HLH activity, based on siblings or albinism. Major HLH-directed drugs (etoposide, antithymocyte globulin, alemtuzumab, emapalumab, ruxolitinib) were administered to 66 of 76 patients who were symptomatic (86% first-line etoposide); 16 of 57 patients treated with etoposide and 3 of 9 with other first-line treatment received salvage therapy. HSCT was performed in 75 patients; 7 patients died before HSCT. Three-year probability of survival (pSU) was 82% (confidence interval [CI], 72%-88%) for the entire cohort and 77% (CI, 64%-86%) for patients receiving first-line etoposide. Compared with the HLH-2004 study, both pre-HSCT and post-HSCT survival of patients receiving first-line etoposide improved, 83% to 91% and 70% to 88%. Differences to HLH-2004 included preferential use of reduced-toxicity conditioning and reduced time from diagnosis to HSCT (from 148 to 88 days). Three-year pSU was lower with haploidentical (4 of 9 patients [44%]) than with other donors (62 of 66 [94%]; P < .001). Importantly, early HSCT for patients who were asymptomatic resulted in 100% survival, emphasizing the potential benefit of newborn screening. This contemporary standard-of-care study of patients with pHLH reveals that first-line etoposide-based therapy is better than previously reported, providing a benchmark for novel treatment regimes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)872-881
Number of pages10
JournalBlood
Volume143
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Mar 2024

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