Pretransplant hepatomegaly is linked to relapse in patients with leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome not in remission

Hepatomegaly is an extramedullary disease (EMD) manifestation of hematological malignancy. Although EMD before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is a risk factor for relapse in patients not in complete remission (NonCR) patients, the significance of hepatomegaly to allo-HCT is unclear. We conducted a single-center retrospective observational study of 140 patients with acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome who underwent allo-HCT at our institution from 2014 to 2019. Hepatomegaly was assessed by ultrasonography using the liver index (LI). In the univariable analysis, the LI/height ratio was significantly associated with relapse (hazard ratio [HR] per standard deviation [sd]: 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18–1.93, p = 0.001, sd = 13.8) in NonCR patients ( n = 62), but showed no significant association in CR patients ( n = 78) (HR per sd: 0.95, 95% CI 0.64–1.39, p = 0.780, sd = 8.7). In multivariable analysis, the LI/height ratio was significantly associated with relapse (HR per sd: 1.34, 95% CI 1.02–1.78, p = 0.037) after adjusting for the refined disease risk index and conditioning intensity. Interaction analysis showed a noteworthy but not statistically significant association between the LI/height ratio and CR status ( p = 0.110). In conclusion, our findings suggest that the LI may be a risk factor for relapse in NonCR patients after allo-HCT.