To clarify the significance of post-transplant serum ferritin (SF), we retrospectively assessed pre- and post-transplant SF. Among 256 patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT) for hematologic malignancies between 2000 and 2011, those who had relapsed within 1 year were excluded, and 110 patients surviving for more than 1 year were included in the analysis. The cut-off value of SF was 1000 ng/mL, and four pre- and post-SF groups were defined: low-low (n = 62), low-high (n = 12), high-low (n = 13) and high-high (n = 23). Outcomes at 5 years for each group were as follows: overall survival (OS) 88.2, 38.1, 92.3 and 76.7%, respectively, p = 0.004, and non-relapse mortality (NRM) 11.3, 53.6, 7.7 and 18.9%, respectively, p = 0.037. Patients receiving larger transfusion volumes or developing chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) demonstrated higher 1-year SF values. In multivariate analysis for OS and NRM, low-high SF remained a significant predictor of OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10-11.0, p = 0.032) and NRM (HR = 2.95, 95%CI: 1.04-8.36, p = 0.041). These results suggest that the elevation of SF at 1 year after SCT, which may reflect transfusion and the development of chronic GVHD, may have an aggravating influence on outcomes after SCT. This study provides a clue to clarifying the clinical significance of SF in a transplant setting.
Keywords: Post-transplant serum ferritin; allogeneic stem cell transplant.