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. 2020 May;111(5):614-618.
doi: 10.1007/s12185-020-02861-6. Epub 2020 Mar 23.

Increased incidence of infection in patients with myelofibrosis and transfusion-associated iron overload in the clinical setting

Giovanni Caocci  1 , Maria Pina Simula  2 , Silvia Ghiani  2 , Olga Mulas  2 , Giorgia Mainas  2 , Sandra Atzeni  2 , Martina Pettinau  2 , Emilio Usala  2 , Giorgio La Nasa  2
Affiliations

Increased incidence of infection in patients with myelofibrosis and transfusion-associated iron overload in the clinical setting

Giovanni Caocci et al. Int J Hematol. 2020 May.

Abstract

Transfusion-associated iron overload may lead to increased risk of infection, but its role in myelofibrosis (MF) has been scarcely explored. We evaluated 106 consecutive patients with primary or secondary MF. Up to 38% of patients were transfusion-dependent (TD) with a median of 14 RBC units received. Median observation time was 36 months (range 3-203). Forty-five percent of patients experienced one or more infectious episodes for a total of 69 infectious events, 13 (19%) of which were severe. The 60-month cumulative incidence of infection was 64.1 ± 6.5%. TD patients showed a higher incidence of infection (HR = 2.13, p = 0.019). Transfusion burden was markedly greater in TD patients with infectious complication (median 24 RBC units vs 15 RBC units; p = 0.012). The 60-month overall survival was 40 ± 5.9%. Lower International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) risk (p < 0.0001) and ruxolitinib (p = 0.027) were significantly correlated with higher survival. This real-world study showed increased infections in patients with higher transfusion burden. It may therefore be interesting to further investigate the role of iron chelation in improving infection-free survival in MF patients.

Keywords: Infection; Iron overload; Myelofibrosis; Ruxolitinib; Transfusion.

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