Supplemental Table 3. Multivariate analysis showing impact of cGVHD characteristics on treatment related mortality, disease free survival and overall survival in patients with CML who developed cGVHD
Supplemental Table 1. Multivariate analysis of late relapse, transplant-related mortality, overall survival after HCT for each disease (AML, ALL, CML, MDS)
Supplemental Figure 1. Cumulative incidence of cGVHD, relapse and death in patients with AML, ALL, CML, MDS
Supplemental Table 2. Multivariate analysis showing impact of cGVHD characteristics in CML patients on relapse
Background. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the deployment of unfamiliar measures to safeguard successful allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Among these measures, cryopreservation offered logistical benefits that could outlast the pandemic, including graft availability and timely clinical service. The purpose of this study was to evaluate graft quality and hematopoietic reconstitution in patients transplanted with cryopreserved allogeneic stem cell products during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods. We evaluated 44 patients who underwent allo-HCT using cryopreserved grafts consisting of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) apheresis (A) and bone marrow (BM) products at Mount Sinai Hospital. Comparative analyses of 37 grafts infused fresh during the one-year period preceding the pandemic were performed. Assessment of cellular therapy products included total nucleated cell and CD34+ cell enumeration, viability, and post-thaw recovery. The primary clinical endpoint was the evaluation of engraftment (absolute neutrophil count [ANC] and platelet count) and donor chimerism (presence of CD33+ and CD3+ donor cells) at day +30 and +100 post-transplant. Adverse events related to cell infusion were also analyzed.Results. Patient characteristics were comparable between the fresh and cryopreserved groups with 2 exceptions in the HPC-A cohort: the number of patients in the cryopreserved group that received haploidentical grafts was 6 times that in the fresh group, and the number of patients in the fresh group with a Karnofsky performance score >90 was double that in the cryopreserved group. The quality of HPC-A and HPC-BM products was not affected by cryopreservation, and all grafts met the release criteria for infusion. The pandemic did not affect the time between collection and cryopreservation (median, 24 hours) and time in storage (median, 15 days). Median time to ANC recovery was significantly delayed in recipients of cryopreserved HPC-A (15 vs 11 days, P = .0121), and there was a trend toward delayed platelet engraftment (24 vs 19 days, P = .0712). The delay in ANC and platelet recovery was not observed when only matched graft recipients were compared. Cryopreservation did not affect the ability of HPC-BM grafts to engraft and reconstitute hematopoiesis, and there was no difference in the rates of ANC and platelet recovery. Achievement of donor CD3/CD33 chimerism was not affected bycryopreservation of either HPC-A or HPC-BM products. Graft failure was observed in only 1 case, a recipient of cryopreserved HPC-BM. Three recipients of cryopreserved HPC-A grafts died before ANC engraftment from infectious complications. Remarkably, 22% of our studied population had myelofibrosis, and almost half received cryopreserved HPC-A grafts with no graft failure observed. Finally, patients receiving cryopreserved grafts were at a higher risk of infusion-related adverse events than those receiving fresh grafts. Conclusions. Cryopreservation of allogeneic grafts results in adequate product quality with minimal impact on short-term clinical outcomes, except for an increased risk of infusion-related adverse events. Cryopreservation is a safe option in terms of graft quality and hematopoietic reconstitution with logistical benefits, but additional data are needed to determine long-term outcomes and assess whether this is a suitable strategy for at-risk patients.
Purpose/Objectives: We sought to estimate the expected cost savings generated if a set of potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAHs) among oncology care model (OCM) patients with prostate cancer were shifted to an acute care model in the outpatient setting. Methods: We previously identified a set of 28 PAHs among OCM prostate cancer patients. Outpatient management costs for a characteristically similar cohort of cancer patients were obtained from our institution's ambulatory acute-care Oncology Care Unit (OCU). We excluded OCU visits resulting in hospitalization, involving non-cancer diagnoses, and those missing clinical/financial information. Exact-matching based on the strata of age, categorically-defined presenting complaint, and systemic disease was used to match PAHs to OCU acute care visits. PAH costs obtained from OCM data were compared to costs from matched OCU visits. Results: We identified 130 acute care OCU visits, of which 47 met inclusion criteria. Twenty-four PAHs (89%) matched to 26 of these OCU visits. PAHs accounted for 5.8% of OCM expenditures during our study period. The mean inpatient cost among matched PAHs was $15,885 compared to $6227 for matched OCU visits. Boot strapping within each match stratum produced a mean estimated cost savings of $12,151 (95% CI $10,488 to $13,814) per PAH. We estimate this per event savings to yield a 4.4% (95% CI 3.8% to 5.0%) an overall spending decrement for OCM prostate cancer episodes. Conclusions: PAHs contribute meaningfully to costs of care in oncology. Investment in specialized ambulatory acute care services for oncology patients could lead to substantial cost savings.
PURPOSE:As expenditures for cancer care continue to grow substantially, value-based payment models are being tested to control costs. The Oncology Care Model (OCM) is the largest value-based payment program in oncology. The primary objective of this analysis was to determine the impact of high-cost novel agents on total cost of care for multiple myeloma (MM) episodes of care in the OCM.METHODS:This was a retrospective analysis using Medicare claims data for 258 MM OCM episodes initiated between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017. Patients were organized into 3 cohorts: those who received pomalidomide (cohort A), those who received lenalidomide (cohort B), and those who did not receive either drug but had received another chemotherapy agent (cohort C). We compared the actual episode expenditures and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid target price to create an observed versus expected (O/E) ratio.RESULTS:The average O/E for cohort A (n = 73) was 1.73, compared with 1.31 for cohort B (n = 84) and 1.01 for cohort C (n = 101). The difference the in O/E ratio among the groups was statistically significant (P < .001). The average episode target price for cohorts A, B, and C was $66,149, $63,483, and $63,937, respectively. Despite the high cost of pomalidomide and lenalidomide, there was no significant difference in the average episode target prices of the cohorts.CONCLUSION:The O/E ratio and target prices of the cohorts demonstrate a lack of adequate adjustment to the OCM target price for episodes in which pomalidomide and lenalidomide were used to treat patients with MM.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), like cancer, is a complex disease with clinical phases of progression. Initially conceptualized as a respiratory disease, COVID-19 is increasingly recognized as a multi-organ and heterogeneous illness. Disease staging is a method for measuring the progression and severity of an illness using objective clinical and molecular criteria. Integral to cancer staging is "metastasis,'' defined as the spread of a disease-producing agent, including neoplastic cells and pathogens such as certain viruses, from the primary site to distinct anatomic locations. Staging provides valuable frameworks and benchmarks for clinical decision-making in patient management, improved prognostication, and evidence-based treatment selection.
Background The Oncology Care Model (OCM) was developed as a payment model to encourage participating practices to provide better-quality care for cancer patients at a lower cost. The risk-adjustment model used in OCM is a Gamma generalized linear model (Gamma GLM) with log-link. The predicted value of expense for the episodes identified for our academic medical center (AMC), based on the model fitted to the national data, did not correlate well with our observed expense. This motivated us to fit the Gamma GLM to our AMC data and compare it with two other flexible modeling methods: Random Forest (RF) and Partially Linear Additive Quantile Regression (PLAQR). We also performed a simulation study to assess comparative performance of these methods and examined the impact of non-linearity and interaction effects, two understudied aspects in the field of cost prediction. Methods The simulation was designed with an outcome of cost generated from four distributions: Gamma, Weibull, Log-normal with a heteroscedastic error term, and heavy-tailed. Simulation parameters both similar to and different from OCM data were considered. The performance metrics considered were the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute prediction error (MAPE), and cost accuracy (CA). Bootstrap resampling was utilized to estimate the operating characteristics of the performance metrics, which were described by boxplots. Results RF attained the best performance with lowest RMSE, MAPE, and highest CA for most of the scenarios. When the models were misspecified, their performance was further differentiated. Model performance differed more for non-exponential than exponential outcome distributions. Conclusions RF outperformed Gamma GLM and PLAQR in predicting overall and top decile costs. RF demonstrated improved prediction under various scenarios common in healthcare cost modeling. Additionally, RF did not require prespecification of outcome distribution, nonlinearity effect, or interaction terms. Therefore, RF appears to be the best tool to predict average cost. However, when the goal is to estimate extreme expenses, e.g., high cost episodes, the accuracy gained by RF versus its computational costs may need to be considered.
CALGB (Alliance) 100001 was a phase II study evaluating autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) followed by nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplant (alloSCT) in patients with multiple myeloma who had received no more than 18 months of prior therapy and had experienced no more than 1 prior progression event. Conditioning for ASCT was with high-dose melphalan (200 mg/m2). The alloSCT reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen consisted of fludarabine (30 mg/m2/d i.v. on days -7 through -3) and cyclophosphamide (1 g/m2/d i.v. on days -4 through -3). The primary objective was to determine the 6-month post-alloSCT treatment-related mortality (TRM) rate. Additional objectives included determining the proportion of patients who could complete this tandem ASCT-alloSCT approach in a cooperative group setting, overall response rates, rates of donor chimerism, rates of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), disease-free survival, and overall survival (OS). Sixty patients were enrolled, of whom 57 (95%) completed ASCT and 49 (82%) completed tandem ASCT-alloSCT. The TRM rate was 2% (1/49; 90% confidence interval, 0.10% to 9.3%). Moderate to severe (grades 2 to 3) acute GVHD was observed in 13 of 49 alloSCT patients (27%). One patient died due to GVHD within 9 months of alloSCT. Twenty-seven of the 49 patients (55%) who underwent alloSCT reported chronic GVHD as either limited (15/49; 31%) or extensive (12/49; 24%) in the first year post-alloSCT and prior to the start of nonprotocol therapy for progressive disease. With a median follow-up for survival of 11 years, the median OS time is 6.6 years and the median time to disease progression is 3.6 years. Similar to other studies, this study confirmed that tandem ASCT/alloSCT is associated with durable disease control in a subset of patients. This study demonstrated the feasibility of performing tandem ASCT/alloSCT in a cooperative group setting and determined that a fludarabine/cyclophosphamide RIC regimen is associated with a very low TRM rate.
Relapse remains the major cause of death in older patients transplanted for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission or for patients with advanced myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) at any age. Conventional myeloablative conditioning followed by allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation is associated with significantly less relapse compared with reduced-intensity conditioning when performed in younger patients with AML or MDS, but the toxicity of this approach in older patients is prohibitive. We hypothesized that pharmacokinetic targeting to optimize busulfan (BU) exposure, combined with the administration of azacitidine (AZA) post-transplant would mitigate the risk of relapse while reducing nonrelapse mortality and ultimately improve progression-free survival (PFS). On this phase II multicenter study, 63 patients (40 unrelated donors and 23 matched related donors) received a uniform conditioning regimen consisting of fludarabine i.v. (days -7 to -3), BU targeted to a daily area under the curve (AUC) of 4000 μM/min (days -6 to -3) after the administration of a 25-mg/m2 i.v. test dose on 1 day between days -14 to -9, and antithymocyte globulin (days -6, -5, and -4 (2 doses for matched related donors and 3 for matched unrelated donors only). Beginning on days +42 to +90, all patients were planned to receive up to 6 monthly cycles of AZA at 32 mg/m2 subcutaneously for 5 days. The median age was 62 years (range, 44 to 74); 13 had AML and 50 had MDS; 87% of patients were within 20% of the target AUC based on a validation sample. Forty-one patients (65%) started AZA at a median of 61 days (range, 43 to 91) post-transplant, and 17 patients (41%) completed all 6 cycles of AZA. The cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality at 2 years was 33.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 22%-45%). The cumulative incidence of relapse was 25% (95% CI, 15%-37%) at 2 years. With a median follow-up of 58.9 months, the estimated PFS probability at 2 years and 5 years after transplantation was 41.2% (80% CI, 33.9%-49.9%) and 26.9% (80% CI, 20.4%-35.5%), respectively, for the entire group with a median PFS of 15.8 months (95% CI, 6.7 to 28.3). The probability of overall survival at 2 and 5 years was 45.7% (95% CI, 34.9%-59.9%) and 31.2% (95% CI, 21.3% to 45.8%), respectively, for the entire group with a median overall survival of 19.2 months (95% CI, 8.7 to 37.5). In summary, we demonstrated the feasibility of a novel reduced-intensity conditioning regimen with test dose BU targeted to an AUC of 4000 μM/min. The feasibility of AZA in this setting appears to be limited if applied to an unselected population of older hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01168219.).
PURPOSE::If identifiable, potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAHs) can serve as an important target for cost containment efforts in oncology.METHODS::PAHs among a cohort of Medicare patients with prostate cancer were identified using a two-stage consensus-driven review process. In stage 1, two clinicians independently evaluated admissions records using a case review form, which we modified from a previous study to assess for PAHs. In stage 2, any admissions that the reviewers disagreed on or were unsure of were re-examined in a larger group of clinicians to yield a consensus determination regarding avoidability. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were performed to identify factors predictive of PAH.RESULTS::There were 160 admissions among this cohort of 210 patients from January 2012 to June 2015, of which 99 were evaluable. Consensus-driven clinical review yielded an overall PAH rate of 28.3%. Factors associated with increased PAH risk were admission for symptoms related to cancer (odds ratio [OR], 7.33; P < .001), presence of a social contributor to admission (OR, 4.40; P = .014), and history of alcohol or drug abuse (OR, 4.93; P = .025). Admission for a noncancer condition was associated with decreased PAH risk (OR, 0.32; P = .011). On multivariable analysis, presence of a social contributor to admission (OR, 9.35; P = .002) and admission as a result of a noncancer condition (OR, 0.16; P = .038) remained predictive of PAH risk.CONCLUSION::A significant proportion of hospitalizations among patients with prostate cancer are potentially avoidable. Understanding factors predictive of risk for PAH can help inform programs aimed at avoiding such admissions to improve overall care quality and value.
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (AlloSCT) is most often performed for treatment of patients with acute leukemia, high risk lymphoma, and certain benign hematologic as well as nonhematologic conditions. A number of advances including use of reduced intensity conditioning regimens, availability of cord blood stem cells, and improved HLA matching have led to improved outcomes post AlloSCT. Infections post AlloSCT are common and can be potentially lifethreatening, and should be treated aggressively with appropriate prophylaxis and treatment. Though there have been improvements in management of GVHD prophylaxis and treatment, it remains the most common cause of treatment-related mortality. As survival rates improve, it is imperative that these patients are evaluated at regular intervals and screened appropriately for long-term complications related to AlloSCT.
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PURPOSE::The Oncology Care Model (OCM) must be clinically relevant, accurate, and comprehensible to drive value-based care.METHODS::We studied OCM data detailing observed and expected expenses for 6-month-long episodes of care for patients with prostate cancer. We constructed seven disease state-treatment dyads into which we grouped each episode on the bases of diagnoses, procedures, and medications in OCM claims data. We used this clinical-administrative stratification model to facilitate a comparative cost analysis, and we evaluated emergency department and hospital utilization and drug therapy as potential drivers of cost.RESULTS::We examined 377 episodes of care, pertaining to 210 patients, that took place within our health system from January 2012 to June 2015. Ninety-six percent of episodes were assigned to clinically meaningful dyads. Excessive expenses were seen in metastatic, castration-resistant dyads containing second-line hormone therapy (ratio of observed to expected expenses [O/E], 2.66), chemotherapy (O/E, 2.09), and radium-223/sipuleucel-T (O/E, 3.01). An OCM update correcting for castration-resistant prostate cancer led to small differences in observed expenses (0% to +2%) but large changes in expected expenses (-17% to -27% for hormone-sensitive dyads and +136% to +141% for castration-resistant dyads). O/E increased up to 38% for hormone-sensitive dyads and decreased up to 58% for castration-resistant dyads. Emergency department and hospital utilization seems to drive cost for castration-resistant dyads but not for hormone-sensitive dyads. In the revised OCM model, overall O/E for all episodes improved by 22%, from 1.48 to 1.15.CONCLUSION::Our experience with OCM highlights the limitations of administrative claims data within this model and illustrates a method of translating these data into clinically meaningful information to improve value.
298 Background: A comprehensive chemotherapy informed consent process improves shared decision-making. Additionally, the Oncology Care Model (OCM) emphasizes providing patients with a documented care plan that contains the 13 components in the Institute of Medicine Care Management Plan. Within our health system, we incorporated the care plan into our existing chemotherapy consent process and utilized technology to increase compliance and reduce administrative burden. Methods: Our 2 phase PDSA included: 1) updating our existing paper chemotherapy form with the 13 components of the IOM care plan and then 2) piloting an electronic version of the chemotherapy consent form. We updated our new chemotherapy consent with the addition of Prognosis, Expected Response to Treatment, Potential Effect on Quality of Life, Potential Benefits/Goals of Treatment, and added more options for potential side effects/harm. Given the increased administrative burden, we created and piloted the use of an electronic version of the consent form in our breast oncology program. Results: Baseline, monthly random chart audit of 20-40 patients revealed compliance with completing every question of the paper chemotherapy consent at 30% of all patients receiving IV chemotherapy at our cancer center that month- 7/2018. When the new chemotherapy consent incorporating the IOM elements was rolled out, compliance initially rose to 50% (8/2018), however the following months dropped to 10-20% (9-11/2018) and then back up to 41% briefly (12/2018). The results were low and inconsistent. A pareto chart confirmed that redundancy and too many questions were the reasons for under-completion. By auto-populating fields for certain questions on the paper consent, compliance increased to 75% (2/2019). Finally within our breast cancer pilot group our compliance rose to 100% (3-4/2019), by converting to an electronic form with the maximum options for auto-population and drop-down selections for certain fields. Conclusions: Incorporating regulatory requirements into an existing workflow can reduce administrative burden. The use of innovative technology can further increase clinician and OCM compliance while delivering value to patients.
Graft-versus-host disease has been reported to occur rarely in syngeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Clinical and histological changes consistent with graft-versus-host disease have been reported to occur in this patient population. We report a case of a 46-year-old Caucasian male with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in complete remission who underwent a syngeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. He was diagnosed with grade III acute skin and gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease requiring high-dose corticosteroids and immunosuppressive therapy and resulting in a complete response. Syngeneic graft-versus-host disease is an anomaly that needs to be considered as a differential diagnosis of patients experiencing dermatitis, gastroenteritis, or hepatitis after an identical twin hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Topic Significance & Study Purpose/Background/Rationale: HAIs, specifically CLABSIs cause morbitity, mortality, increased cost and length of stay (LOS). CLABSI rates are reported on hospital and CMS websites. The CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network developed criteria for classifying CLABSIs. Duration of neutropenia, LOS, immune status and GVHD are used to establish true CLABSI. In BMT patients, conditioning and GVHD compromise the GI mucosal barrier facilitating translocation of the GI flora and bacteremia. This and the high rate of use of central venous catheters results in positive blood cultures that may be reported as CLABSI's. Methods, Intervention, & Analysis: We found a high incidence of reported CLABSI at our center despite CHG washing, proper hand washing, oral care and initiatives to minimize CVC access. We reviewed CLABSIs Jan-Sep, 2017 for 2 units that house BMT patients. Organisms were identified by standard microbiological testing and categorized into typical catheter-associated organisms, gut flora, potential contaminants and others. CLABSI reported cases underwent chart review for risk factors for mucosal barrier integrity and GI bacterial translocation including recent conditioning, mucositis, diarrhea and GVHD Findings & Interpretation:Patient characteristicsN= 25ASCT = 2allo HSCT = 23OrganismsE.coli = 7Enterococcus faecium/faecalis = 9Staph aureus = 1Klebsiella oxytoca/pneumoniae = 2Corynebacterium sp = 1Staph epidermidis = 3Enterobacter cloacae = 1Pseudomonas Au = 1Clinical Data Review16cases classified as likely GI translocation based on diarrhea and compromised GI mucosal integrity1allo patient had E. faecium without diarrhea1auto patient with E. Coli felt by ID service to be likely due to GI translocation13patients with diarrhea5patients with gram positive (staph epi, Corynebacterium, staph aureus) classified as true CLABSIs. Discussion & Implications: The majority of the allo-HSCT patients had prolonged (months) hospitalizations, received high dose steroids and various other immunosuppresive drugs including CI's for documented GI aGVHD. Taking into consideration the clinical setting and the organisms isolated, GI bacterial translocation is a likely etiology for the majority of episodes of bacteremia initially reported as CLABSI. By virtue of having neutropenia and lymphopenia, BMT patients have uniquely compromised immune responses. In addition, whether from mucosal damage related to conditioning or to GVHD, the probability of bacterial intestinal translocation is markedly increased compared to other oncology and general medicine patients. While the occurrence of HAI and CLABSI is a critically important quality metric for hospitals, its incidence may be overestimated in BMT patients unless critical clinical information is incorporated into reporting mechanisms. Developing specific benchmarks for BMT patient for CLABSI may be a worthwhile endeavor.
Background: In July of 2016, CMMI started a five year bundled payment program called OCM. Beneficiaries are attributed to practices providing their cancer care for a 6 month episode triggered by the administration or distribution of specified cancer drugs. The model provides risk adjustments to the target price based on risk factors such as age, chemotherapy and the receipt of certain treatments (radiation or bone marrow transplant). Target prices are adjusted by geographic region, novel therapy use, and a trend factor.