Lack of effect of donor-recipient ABO mismatching on outcome following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

Several recently published studies have suggested that patients who undergo ABO mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may be at increased risk for relapse, graft-versus-host disease, transplant-related mortality, and/or all-cause mortality. To investigate this issue further, we analyzed potential associations between the donor-recipient ABO mismatch pattern and the above outcome measures among 240 consecutive patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at our institution. Our analyses uncovered no significant associations between donor-recipient ABO mismatch pattern and overall survival, event-free survival, transplant-related mortality, incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), or incidence of chronic GVHD. Our data do not support recent assertions that donor-recipient ABO mismatching is a major risk factor for patients undergoing allogeneic transplant, nor do they support recent assertions that ABO matching should be an important consideration in selecting allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell donors.