Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Influence of time-of-day of graft infusion on allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation outcomes : a validation cohort study

Published inJournal for immunotherapy of cancer, vol. 13, no. 12, e013372
Publication date2025-12-25
First online date2025-12-25
Abstract

The biological clock plays a central role in hematopoiesis and immune regulation, making circadian rhythms an increasingly important factor in immunotherapies and cellular therapies such as allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Previous work by Hou et al suggested that afternoon graft infusions were associated with a higher risk of acute graft-versus-host disease and worse survival, highlighting a potential role for infusion timing in shaping transplant outcomes.To further investigate this, we performed a retrospective analysis of 368 patients who underwent allo-HSCT at Geneva University Hospitals between 2015 and 2024. Observing that infusion timing patterns at our center differed from those reported by Hou et al , we applied a data-driven approach using receiver operating characteristic analysis, which identified 11:17 as the optimal cut-off for overall survival.Stratification using this threshold revealed that patients receiving grafts before 11:00 had significantly improved 2-year overall survival and lower non-relapse mortality compared with those infused later in the day, with no differences in relapse or engraftment rates.These findings suggest that infusion timing may be an important, under-recognized factor influencing allo-HSCT outcomes. Prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm these observations and explore their applicability across different clinical contexts.

Keywords
  • Graft versus host disease - GVHD
  • Hematologic Malignancies
  • Infusion
  • Transplant
  • Humans
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / methods
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / adverse effects
  • Male
  • Female
  • Middle Aged
  • Adult
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Transplantation, Homologous / methods
  • Graft vs Host Disease / etiology
  • Time Factors
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Young Adult
  • Adolescent
  • Aged
Citation (ISO format)
BERNARDI, Chiara et al. Influence of time-of-day of graft infusion on allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation outcomes : a validation cohort study. In: Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, 2025, vol. 13, n° 12, p. e013372. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2025-013372
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Secondary files (3)
Supplemental data
accessLevelPublic
Supplemental data
accessLevelPublic
Supplemental data
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Additional URL for this publicationhttps://jitc.bmj.com/content/13/12/e013372
Journal ISSN2051-1426
2views
4downloads

Technical informations

Creation16/06/2026 06:48:21
First validation14/07/2026 07:15:34
Update14/07/2026 07:15:34
Status update14/07/2026 07:15:34
Last indexation14/07/2026 07:15:35
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack