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Australia and New Zealand have achieved excellent community control of COVID‐19 infection. In light of the imminent COVID‐19 vaccination roll out in both countries, representatives of all adult and paediatric allogeneic bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy (TCT) centres as well as representatives from autologous transplant only centres in Australia and New Zealand collaborated with infectious diseases specialists with expertise in TCT on this consensus position statement regarding COVID‐19 vaccination in TCT patients in Australia and New Zealand. It is our recommendation that TCT patients, should have expedited access to high‐efficacy COVID‐19 vaccines given that these patients are at high risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID‐19 infection. We also recommend prioritising vaccination of TCT healthcare workers and household members of TCT patients. Vaccination should not replace other public health measures in TCT patients given the effectiveness of COVID‐19 vaccination in TCT patients is unknown. Furthermore, given the limited available data, prospective collection of safety and efficacy data of COVID‐19 vaccination in this patient group is a priority.

The aim of this descriptive study was to assess the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients on active therapy for multiple myeloma in a tropical climate. We also tested for the association of vitamin D status on clinical outcomes. This was a single centre, observational study performed in Townsville, Australia, which has a sunlight heavy, tropical climate. Patients on active therapy for multiple myeloma underwent testing of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). Information on disease stage, skeletal morbidity and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy were collected from medical records and self-reported patient questionnaires. A total of 41 patients were included. With a median disease duration of 38 months, 27% were found to be vitamin D deficient. Patients with vitamin D deficiency had a higher likelihood of peripheral neuropathy compared with their non-vitamin D counterparts (73% vs. 33%, P = 0.03). Although those with vitamin D deficiency had more skeletal morbidity, this was not statistically significant (73% vs 50%, P = 0.19). Reduced 25(OH) D was associated with a poor performance status (P = 0.003). There was no association between vitamin D status and stage of myeloma. There is a relatively high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with myeloma in our study. This is despite a sunlight heavy, tropical climate. We report an association between vitamin D deficiency and peripheral neuropathy. Prospective interventional trials are required to further assess this.

Background: The Townsville Hospital is a tertiary hospital in North Queensland with one of the largest regional transplant centres in Australia, performing primarily autologous haemopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) for various haematological malignancies. Aims: This single-centre, retrospective, observational study aims to describe the activity and outcomes of autologous HSCT at The Townsville Hospital between 2003 and 2017 to verify safety standards. Methods: Patient-level data were collected, including demographics, frequency and indication for transplant, conditioning, current clinical status and cause of death. Key outcomes included overall survival, non-relapse mortality, incidence of therapy-related neoplasm and causes of death. Progression-free survival in the multiple myeloma (MM) subgroup was also assessed. Results: There were 319 autologous HSCT in 286 patients, with a median age of 58 years (range 14-71 years); 62% of patients were male. Indications for transplantation were: MM 53.7%, non-Hodgkin lymphoma 29.4%, Hodgkin lymphoma 5.0% and other 11.9%. Causes of death were: disease progression/relapse (65.2%), second malignancy (17.0%), infection (9.8%) and other (8.0%). Non-relapse mortality was 1.2% (95% confidence interval 0.4-3.0) and 3.2% (1.7-5.7) at 100 days and 1 year, respectively, post-HSCT. Overall survival at 2 years was 81.0% (73.8-86.4) for MM and 69.6% (58.8-78.1) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The median progression-free survival in the MM cohort was 3.3 years. Conclusion: The Townsville Hospital transplant centre provides an important transplant service in regional Queensland, with outcomes comparable to national data. We reported a relatively high rate of second malignancy as a cause of death.

Adolescents and adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (ALL) have better outcomes when treated using pediatric protocols compared with treatment using adult protocols. We reviewed the progress and outcomes of 40 adolescents and adults up to 45 years of age, from three Australian centers, treated on the intensive French group for childhood ALL (FRALLE)-93 pediatric protocol. All except one patient achieved a morphologic complete remission following induction chemotherapy. Three-year overall survival for all-risk and standard-risk disease was 70% and 75%, respectively. The treatment protocol was generally well tolerated with no treatment related mortality. The FRALLE-93 pediatric protocol showed excellent overall survival for patients with standard-risk disease, without the need for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant in first remission.