Diamond-Blackfan Anemia in Japan: Clinical Outcomes of Prednisolone Therapy and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

The epidemiology and treatment outcomes for Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) were surveyed in a cohort of 54 children (M/F = 26:28) registered in Japan from 1988 to 1998. The annual incidence was 4.02 cases per million births, the median age at diagnosis was 60 days, and 59% of the cases presented by 3 months of age. Three patients had a familial occurrence. All patients received prednisolone (PSL), and cyclosporin A (CsA) was added to the therapy in 17 patients. Forty-seven patients received transfusions, and 13 underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The cumulative probabilities of a medication-free or a transfusion-free state prior to HSCT were 36% and 69%, respectively, at more than 5 years after diagnosis. Thirteen patients were weaned from PSL therapy without HSCT, and CsA was not associated with weaning from therapy. Transfusion and medication were stopped at 249 days and 933 days after diagnosis in 34 and 13 patients, respectively, who achieved a state of independence. No initial findings predicted the treatment dependence. More than 20% of patients experienced sustained hemosiderosis and/or adverse effects of PSL. The ages and reticulocyte counts at diagnosis of the patients who underwent HSCT were lower than in the patients who did not. HSCT led to the highest success (85%) of all previous reports, even though 5 alternative donors were included in our study. Two cord blood transplants from unrelated donors failed. These findings suggest the need for developing an integral treatment strategy including selective HSCT for refractory DBA.