Comparison of lung function after myeloablative and 2 Gy of total body irradiation-based regimens for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Lung function decline is a well-recognized occurrence after myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) that has not been studied after nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens. We examined the lung function of patients before and after 2-Gy total body irradiation-based nonmyeloablative and myeloablative preparative regimens. Before HCT, at day 100, and 1 year after HCT, nonmyeloablative patients had lower 1-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1), forced vital capacity, total lung capacity, residual volume, and carbon monoxide diffusion capacity. However, after transplantation, the risk for experiencing a >20% per year decrease of FEV 1 was significantly lower for nonmyeloablative than myeloablative patients >50 years of age (odds ratio, 0.3; 95% confidence interval, 0.1-0.8; P = .01). Lower pretransplantation FEV 1 was associated with a higher mortality rate for both groups, with the highest mortality risk among patients with a pretransplantation FEV 1 <60% (nonmyeloablative: hazard ratio, 3.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-8.0; myeloablative: hazard ratio, 7.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.5-21.2). These results suggest that despite having worse lung function, patients who receive the 2-Gy total body irradiation-based nonmyeloablative regimen will likely experience less pulmonary toxicity than patients who receive a myeloablative regimen, and this may have important clinical implications when deciding on a conditioning regimen for patients >50 years of age with compromised pretransplantation lung function.