Calcineurin Inhibitor-Free Interventions BMT CTN 1301 for Prevention of Graft-versus-Host Disease (BMT CTN 1301)

The primary endpoint of the trial is Chronic GVHD/Relapse-Free Survival (CRFS), treated as a time to event variable. An event for this time to event outcome is defined as moderate to severe chronic GVHD, disease relapse, or death by any cause. Participant will be censored if lost to follow up prior to 2 years. Time is from randomization to the event of moderate to severe chronic GVHD, disease relapse, death, last follow up, or 2 years, whichever comes first. The primary analysis is performed using the intent-to-treat principle (ITT) so that all randomized patients are included in the analysis.

OS is a key secondary endpoint, with explicit control of the type I error rate through a gatekeeper approach. Formal significance testing of OS between a CNI-free strategy and the control will be conducted if the corresponding CRFS comparison is significant. This OS comparison will be done using a Bonferroni adjusted significance level of 0.05/3 to account for three potential CNI-free comparisons to the control. Otherwise, survival analyses will be considered exploratory. Death from any cause is considered as event for this endpoint. Participant is censored if lost to follow up.

The events for this endpoint RFS are death and relapse of the underlying malignancy. The analyses of this endpoint use the transplanted populations and time is from transplant to the event of disease relapse or death, or last follow up, whichever comes first.

The events for this endpoint TRM are deaths prior to relapse of the underlying malignancy. The analyses of this endpoint will use the transplanted populations, and time will be from transplant to the first of disease relapse, death, or last follow up. TRM are evaluated using the cumulative incidence function. Deaths without relapse are the events for this endpoint and relapse is a competing risk for this endpoint.

Patients who are alive, relapse-free, and do not need ongoing immune suppression to control GVHD at one year post HSCT are considered successes for this endpoint. Immune suppression is defined as any systemic agents used to control or suppress GVHD.

Relapse is defined by either morphological evidence of acute leukemia or MDS consistent with pre-transplant features, or radiologic evidence of lymphoma, documented or not by biopsy. The event is defined as increase in size of prior sites of disease or evidence of new sites of disease, documented or not by biopsy. Relapse is adjudicated by ERC. Disease relapse is analyzed using cumulative incidence function with death as a competing risk. The analyses of this endpoint use the transplanted populations, and the time will be measured from transplant to the earliest of death, relapse/progression, or last follow up.

Neutrophil recovery is defined as achieving an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 500/mm^3 for three consecutive measurements on three different days. The first of the three days will be designated the day of neutrophil recovery. The competing event is death without neutrophil recovery.

Platelet recovery is defined as the first day of a sustained platelet count >20,000/mm^3 with no platelet transfusion in the preceding seven days. The first day of sustained platelet count above this threshold will be designated the day of platelet engraftment. The competing event is death without platelet recovery.

Primary graft failure is defined as no neutrophil recovery to > 500 cells/µL by Day 28 post HSCT.

Secondary graft failure will be assessed according to neutrophil count after initial hematologic recovery. Secondary graft failure is defined as initial neutrophil engraftment followed by subsequent decline in absolute neutrophil counts < 500 cells/µL, unresponsive to growth factor therapy, but cannot be explained by disease relapse or medications. Secondary graft failure will be analyzed using cumulative incidence function with death as a competing risk.

Cumulative incidences of grade II-IV and III-IV acute GVHD were determined. Death prior to acute GVHD is treated as the competing risk. Grading of acute GVHD was derived by consensus grading (Przepiorka 1995) per BMTCTN manual of procedures (MOP). The acute GVHD algorithm calculates the grade based on the organ (skin, GI and liver) stage and etiology/biopsy reported on the weekly GVHD form. Staging for skin: Stage 1. <25% rash; 2. 25-50%; 3. >50%; 4. generalized erythroderma with bullae. Staging for GI: Stage 1. Diarrhea>500ml/d or persistent nausea; 2. >1000ml/d; 3. >1500ml/d; 4. Large volume diarrhea and severe abdominal pain +- ileus. Staging for Liver: Stage 1. bilirubin 2-3mg/dl; 2. bilirubin 3-6 mg/dl; 3. bilirubin 6-15 mg/dl; 4. bilirubin>15mg/dl. Grade 4 is the worst outcome.

Grading of acute GVHD was derived by consensus grading (Przepiorka 1995) per BMTCTN manual of procedures (MOP). The acute GVHD algorithm calculates the grade based on the organ (skin, GI and liver) stage and etiology/biopsy reported on the weekly GVHD form. Grade I aGVHD is defined as Skin stage of 1-2 and stage 0 for both GI and liver organs. Grade II aGVHD is stage 3 of skin, or stage 1 of GI, or stage 1 of liver. Grade III is stage 2-4 for GI, or stage 2-3 of liver. Grade IV is stage 4 of skin, or stage 4 of liver. Max acute GVHD by Day 100 was computed.

The cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD will be determined. Death prior to acute GVHD is treated as the competing risk. Data will be collected directly from providers and chart review according to the recommendations of the NIH Consensus Criteria. Eight organs will be scored on a 0-3 scale to reflect degree of chronic GVHD involvement. Liver and pulmonary function test results and use of systemic therapy for treatment of chronic GVHD will also be recorded. This secondary endpoint of chronic GVHD will include mild, moderate and severe chronic GVHD based on NIH Consensus Criteria.

The event for this endpoint includes moderate to severe chronic GVHD according to NIH consensus criteria global score, or death by any cause.

All grades ≥ 3 toxicities according to CTCAE, version 4 will be tabulated for each intervention arm. The number of unique patients is counted.

All grade 2 and grade 3 infections, as defined by the BMT CTN Technical MOP, occurring post transplantation will be reported. The incidence of definite and probable viral, fungal and bacterial infections will be tabulated for each intervention arm.

All grade 2 and grade 3 infections, as defined by the BMT CTN Technical MOP, occurring post transplantation will be reported. The incidence of definite and probable viral, fungal and bacterial infections will be tabulated for each intervention arm.

HQL will be measured post-transplant using patient-reported survey SF36. The SF36 is a 36 item general assessment of health quality of life with eight components: Physical Functioning, Role Physical, Pain Index, General Health Perceptions, Vitality, Social Functioning, Role Emotional, Mental Health Index. Each domain is positively scored, indicating that higher scores are associated with positive outcome. The total score ranges from 0 to 100. This scale is being used in this protocol as a generic measure of quality of life. To facilitate comparison of results with published norms, the Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary are used as the outcome measures in summarizing the SF36 data. These summary scores are derived by multiplying the z-score for each scale by its respective physical or mental factor score coefficient and summing the products. Resulting scores are then transformed into Tscores (mean=50; standard deviation=10). The SF36 takes 6 minutes to complete.

The FACT-BMT is a 37 item scale comprised of a general core questionnaire, the FACT-G with a possible range of 0-108 points, that evaluates the health-related quality of life (HQL) of patients receiving treatment for cancer, and a specific module, BMT Concerns, that addresses disease and treatment-related questions specific to bone marrow transplant. The FACT-G consists of four subscales developed and normed in cancer patients: Physical Well-being, Social/Family Well-being, Emotional Wellbeing, and Functional Well-being. Each subscale is positively scored, with higher scores indicating better functioning. The FACT-BMT Trial Outcome Index, comprised of the physical well-being scale, the functional well-being scale and the BMT specific items, will be used as the outcome measure in summarizing the FACT-BMT data. The FACT-BMT takes 6 minutes to complete. The final score for FACT-BMT ranges from 0 to 196. Higher scores for the scales and subscales indicate better quality of life.

HQL will be measured post-transplant using patient-reported survey MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI). The MDASI is a 19 item instrument that captures 13 symptoms (0="not present" to 10="as bad as you can imagine") and 6 items measuring interference with life from 0 ("did not interfere") to 10 ("interfered completely"). MDASI Tool questions are negatively scored - higher levels indicate more severe symptoms and levels of interference. Codelist for each question is from 0 to 10. Scoring is taking the mean of items, so the range is 0-10. Lower scores for the scales indicate better quality of life. It provides two summary scales: symptoms and interference. The MDASI takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

HQL will be measured post-transplant using patient-reported survey PedsQL. The PedsQL™ Stem Cell Transplant Module is a 46-item instrument that measures health-related quality of life in children and adolescents undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant and is developmentally appropriate for self-report in ages 8 through 18 years. The score ranges from 0 to 100 with higher scores associated with positive outcome.