Accelerated aging in bone marrow transplant survivors

Menée aux Etats-Unis à partir de données portant sur 998 patients âgés de 18 à 64 ans et ayant reçu une greffe de cellules souches hématopoïétiques ainsi qu'auprès de 297 témoins, cette étude analyse les facteurs associés à la prévalence de symptômes de fragilité physiologique et leurs effets sur la mortalité

Résumé en anglais

Although hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is one of the major success stories of modern medicine, it remains a high-risk procedure that often causes life-threatening or life-changing toxic effects. The early pioneering transplants during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s were complicated by a high incidence of severe conditioning regimen-related toxic effects, infections, and graft-vs-host disease (GvHD), leading to high treatment-related early mortality rates. Subsequently, major advances in transplantation science, especially concerning histocompatibility testing and immunosuppressive strategies, have increased donor availability and consolidated the role of HSCT in the treatment of many lethal or life-limiting hematological, immunological, and metabolic diseases. At the same time, remarkable improvements in supportive care have enabled prevention, earlier diagnosis, and more effective treatment of severe infections and other acute life-threatening complications, thereby reducing early transplant-related mortality. Every year, HSCT now cures thousands of patients with previously fatal illnesses.