Impact of LEAM and CBV conditioning on gastrointestinal toxicity at early periods following hematopoietic cell transplantation: A retrospective study: Gastrointestinal toxicity after LEAM and CBV

Objectives: To compare the severity of oral mucositis and the frequency of gastrointestinal mucositis, and to observe if there is impact of these adverse effects on overall survival (OS), in patients who underwent CBV (carmustine, BCNU, and VP-16) and LEAM (lomustine, etoposide, Ara-C, and melphalan) conditioning for autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (aHCT). Method: We collected retrospective data from medical records (n = 120) of transplantation and mucositis in the digestive tract of Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients. Results: The frequency of OM grade 1 was higher in LEAM (36.76%) than in CBV (19.72%, p=0.038). There were no significant differences between the frequency of gastrointestinal mucositis in the two regimens (CBV - 52.11% and LEAM - 63.27%, p=0.305). CBV regimen exhibited lower 1-year overall survival (OS) than did LEAM (p=0.003). Oral mucositis grade ≥2 was associated with reduced OS in the CBV group (p=0.013). CBV regimen (HR=2.98, p 0.005) and oral mucositis grade ≥2 (HR=2.17, p=0.013) interfered negatively on the OS rate. Conclusion: Oral mucositis was more severe in CBV than in LEAM, decreasing the OS rate. Further studies with comprehensive follow-up and toxicity analyses must be undertaken to clarify the safety of LEAM conditioning in the digestive tract.