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H e m a t o lo g y E d u c a t io n - European Hematology Association

H e m a t o lo g y E d u c a t io n - European Hematology Association

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16 th Congress of the <strong>European</strong> Hemato<strong>lo</strong>gy Associat<strong>io</strong>n<br />

HPV<br />

Squamous cell cancers (SCC) involving the head and<br />

neck and cervix are increased after al<strong>lo</strong>geneic SCT and<br />

in immunosuppressed individuals. Among SCT recipients,<br />

this risk is five times higher in patients with a history<br />

of chronic GVHD, and in a recent study, patients<br />

receiving immunosuppress<strong>io</strong>n for more than 3 years<br />

post SCT had the greatest risk of cervical dysplasia. 28<br />

SCC are linked to HPV infect<strong>io</strong>n – especially HPV<br />

strains 16 and 18 – and HPV vaccinat<strong>io</strong>n is now<br />

approved for prevent<strong>io</strong>n SCC and HPV warts in both<br />

healthy males and females. Vaccinat<strong>io</strong>n results in over<br />

99% seroconvers<strong>io</strong>n in healthy individuals and is<br />

around 95% in immunosuppressed individuals. These<br />

observat<strong>io</strong>ns provide a strong rat<strong>io</strong>nale to give HPV vaccine<br />

to post transplant recipients to reduce the risk of<br />

SCC. 29 Several trials are currently evaluating the HPV<br />

strain 6,11,16,18 vaccine given in three doses starting 3–<br />

12 months post SCT.<br />

Standard guidelines for vaccinat<strong>io</strong>n<br />

Collaborat<strong>io</strong>n between <strong>European</strong>, North, and South<br />

American groups has produced unified g<strong>lo</strong>bal guidelines<br />

for transplant centers. 3,7,30 Their recommendat<strong>io</strong>ns are<br />

summarized (Table 2).<br />

New deve<strong>lo</strong>pments<br />

Improving post transplant immune competence<br />

A clearer understanding of the dynamics of immune<br />

recovery post SCT and the cytokines that control lymphocyte<br />

recovery reveals several strategies that could be<br />

used to improve immune responses to vaccines. The<br />

first few weeks after SCT represent a per<strong>io</strong>d of powerful<br />

lymphoproliferative stimuli driven by IL-15 and IL-7<br />

in particular, and promoting T cell recovery.<br />

Lymphocytes stimulated by vaccine at this stage post<br />

SCT expand preferentially. It may, therefore, be possible<br />

to rapidly induce immunity to infect<strong>io</strong>us agents by early<br />

vaccinat<strong>io</strong>n after SCT. Vaccine responses might be further<br />

enhanced by treatment with IL-15 or IL-7, which<br />

will soon be available for clinical trials. Another strategy<br />

being exp<strong>lo</strong>red is the use of denileukin difitoxin (Ontak<br />

©), which targets the CD25 IL-2 receptor and can be<br />

used to b<strong>lo</strong>ck CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ regulatory T cells<br />

to enhance antigen-specific proliferat<strong>io</strong>n. 31 However,<br />

immunostimulatory strategies will need to be applied<br />

caut<strong>io</strong>usly in al<strong>lo</strong>geneic SCT because of the risk of<br />

inducing GVHD.<br />

Vaccinating the patient pre-transplant<br />

Patients with multiple mye<strong>lo</strong>ma are severely immunecompromised<br />

and fail to make antibody responses to<br />

common vaccines. 32 Auto<strong>lo</strong>gous SCT only worsens the<br />

patient’s already compromised immune system and<br />

increases the risk of post transplant infect<strong>io</strong>n. Influenza<br />

can be fatal in these patients, and post transplant vaccinat<strong>io</strong>n<br />

is not always protective. A recent study showed<br />

that immunity to influenza in mye<strong>lo</strong>ma ASCT recipients<br />

can be significantly improved by adoptive transfer of T<br />

cells, prev<strong>io</strong>usly stimulated by pre-transplantat<strong>io</strong>n multivalent<br />

flu vaccine, fol<strong>lo</strong>wed by a vaccine boost 2 weeks<br />

later. 33 This strategy of combining pre-and post transplant<br />

vaccinat<strong>io</strong>n boosting with reinfus<strong>io</strong>n of vaccineprimed<br />

lymphocytes could be more generally applied to<br />

boost immunity to a variety of infective agents or tumor<br />

antigens before auto<strong>lo</strong>gous SCT.<br />

Tumor vaccines<br />

As our ability improves to control infect<strong>io</strong>us problems<br />

and other transplant-related complicat<strong>io</strong>ns after SCT,<br />

the problem of relapse of malignant disease becomes an<br />

increasingly significant cause of post transplant treatment<br />

failure. Lessons learned in protecting patients with<br />

vaccines against infect<strong>io</strong>us agents have relevance for<br />

deve<strong>lo</strong>ping effective tumor vaccines. There is currently<br />

only limited experience combining anti-tumor vaccines<br />

with SCT but combinat<strong>io</strong>n of leukemia-specific vaccines<br />

with SCT promises to increase the immune competence<br />

of the graft to control and eradicate residual<br />

malignant disease. 34<br />

Table 2. Post transplant vaccine schedule drawn up by an internat<strong>io</strong>nal consortium (adapted from 3,7 ).<br />

Vaccine Recommendat<strong>io</strong>n* Time post-SCT Doses Comments<br />

Non living vaccines<br />

Pneumococcal conjugate + 3–6 months 3-4<br />

Tetanus Diphtheria Pertussis + 6–12 months 3 D T response improved if donor is vaccinated<br />

H Influenzae conjugate + 6–12 months 3<br />

Meningococcal conjugate varies by reg<strong>io</strong>n 6–12 months 1<br />

Inactivated pol<strong>io</strong> varies by reg<strong>io</strong>n 6–12 months 3<br />

Recombinant Hep B varies by reg<strong>io</strong>n 6–12 months 3<br />

Inactivated influenza + yearly 1-2<br />

Live vaccines<br />

Measles seronegative adults 24 months 1-2 given together -<br />

Mumps + avoid if active<br />

Rubella + GVHD<br />

*Depends on nat<strong>io</strong>nal guidelines.<br />

| 340 | Hemato<strong>lo</strong>gy Educat<strong>io</strong>n: the educat<strong>io</strong>n programme for the annual congress of the <strong>European</strong> Hemato<strong>lo</strong>gy Associat<strong>io</strong>n | 2011; 5(1)

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