Invasive Mold Infections in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients in 2020: Have We Made Enough Progress?

BACKGROUND

Despite progress in diagnostic, prevention, and treatment strategies, invasive mold infections (IMIs) remain the leading cause of mortality in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) recipients.

METHODS

We describe the incidence, risk factors, and mortality of allo-HCT recipients with proven/probable IMI in a retrospective single-center 10-year (01/01/2010-01/01/2020) cohort study.

RESULTS

Among 515 allo-HCT recipients, 48 (9.3%) patients developed 51 proven/probable IMI: invasive aspergillosis (IA; 34/51, 67%), mucormycosis (9/51, 18%), and other molds (8/51, 15%). Overall, 35/51 (68.6%) breakthrough IMIs (bIMIs) were identified: 22/35 (62.8%) IA and 13/35 (37.1%) non-IA IMI. One-year IMI cumulative incidence was 7%: 4.9% and 2.1% for IA and non-IA IMI, respectively. Fourteen (29.2 %), 10 (20.8%), and 24 (50.0%) patients were diagnosed during the first 30, 31-180, and >180 days post-HCT, respectively. Risk factors for IMI included prior allo-HCT (sub hazard ratio [SHR], 4.06;  = .004) and grade ≥2 acute graft-vs-host disease (aGvHD; SHR, 3.52;  < .001). All-cause 1-year mortality was 33% (170/515): 48% (23/48) and 31.5% (147/467) for patients with and without IMI ( = .02). Mortality predictors included disease relapse (hazard ratio [HR], 7.47;  < .001), aGvHD (HR, 1.51;  = .001), CMV serology-positive recipients (HR, 1.47;  = .03), and IMI (HR, 3.94;  < .001). All-cause 12-week mortality for patients with IMI was 35.4% (17/48): 31.3% (10/32) for IA and 43.8% (7/16) for non-IA IMI (log-rank = .47). At 1 year post-IMI diagnosis, 70.8% (34/48) of the patients were dead.

CONCLUSIONS

IA mortality has remained relatively unchanged during the last 2 decades. More than two-thirds of allo-HCT recipients with IMI die by 1 year post-IMI diagnosis. Dedicated intensified research efforts are required to further improve clinical outcomes.