Combination of the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Comorbidity Index and the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation score allows a better stratification of high-risk patients undergoing reduced-toxicity allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

This study was conducted to determine whether the integration of the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI) and the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) score would improve individual capacity for stratification of high-risk HCT candidates. A total of 442 consecutive patients receiving an allogeneic HCT after reduced-toxicity conditioning was included. Final HCT-CI and EBMT scores were calculated and validated. Then, patients were grouped into a 6-category new combination model according to the HCT-CI (0, 1 to 2, ≥ 3) and EBMT scores (0 to 3, 4 to 7), and the model's predictive capacity was also evaluated. Median HCT-CI and EBMT scores were 3 and 4, respectively. Increased HCT-CI was associated with higher 4-year nonrelapse mortality (NRM) and lower 4-year overall survival (OS), whereas a high EBMT score was associated with higher 4-year NRM. The HCT-CI showed a trend for a better predictive capacity than the EBMT score (c-statistic .6 versus .54, P = .1). According to the new model, patients within HCT-CI of 0 and HCT-CI of 1 to 2 groups had similar risk of NRM independently of their EBMT score. Within the HCT-CI ≥ 3 group, patients with low EBMT score showed lower NRM (25% versus 40%, P = .04) and a trend to higher OS (52% versus 36%, P = .06) than patients with a high EBMT score. Moreover, patients with HCT-CI ≥ 3 and EBMT score 0 to 3 had similar outcomes than those with HCT-CI of 1 to 2. In conclusion, the combination of HCT-CI and the EBMT score is feasible and might contribute to a better identification of high-risk patients, improving selection of best allogeneic HCT candidates.