Help for Ukrainian Hematology Patients (HUP) – a Global Initiative Supporting the Establishment of Hematology Centers and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Programs in a Time of War

Background

In 2021 most of the Ukrainian patients with hematological diseases and in need of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) were treated outside the country with governmental funding or not treated. Only 147 autologous and 6 allogeneic HCT in adults (75 and 33 in children, respectively) in a country of 44 million population were reported to the Worldwide Network for Blood ad Marrow Transplantation (WBMT). In the same year, the European Leukemia Net (ELN) and the WBMT were approached to support or establish sustainable HCT programs for adults in the country.

Methods

After a site visit at different Ukrainian hospitals in November 2021, daily supervisory telemedicine was initiated in January 2022, immediately before the war in February affected daily life and the existing healthcare in the country. With the mission to establish sustainable care for hematology patients, representatives from major international hematology (ASH, ASCO, EHA, DGHO, ECO), transplant organizations (WBMT, EBMT, ASTCT) and physicians from multiple Ukrainian institutions formed the HUP (Help for Ukrainian Hematology Patients) network with the participation of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO). On weekly video conference meetings, the need and solutions were discussed starting with a list of patients in need for treatment.

Results

Patients were allocated according to their wishes in Ukrainian Hospitals or abroad with the help of EBMT, WBMT, EHA and ECO. In the same time, the daily grand rounds were pursued to help Ukrainian physicians to treat patients with blood disorders remaining in the country. While many drugs were already available, a list of drugs not available and not registered in the Ukraine was created. Medicines were donated from different sources including sister cities, governments and EU commission. In parallel, standard operating procedures were provided to the institutions. Despite war and during bombing, autologous HCT activities continued and allogeneic HCT programs for adults initiated. To ensure highest quality, the EBMT instituted a routine tumor board with global experts to discuss the indication for treatments and, if this was not possible in the country (e.g. CAR-T cell, bispecific antibody treatment), transfer to transplant centers abroad was organized. In order to identify unrelated transplant donors, the Ukrainian unrelated donor search and registry was supported. The cooperation of the Ukrainian institutions with regard to exchange of drugs and other needs was impressive and a transplant society (UABMT) for adult and pediatric patients with the participation of all Ukrainian centers was founded. The volume of allogeneic HCT in adult patients increased rapidly to 45 patients from related, unrelated and haploidentical donors at the BMT center in Kyiv, in the Cherkhasy Regional Hospital in Cherkhasy, and in the Children Hospital “Ohmatdyt” in Kyiv (Table 1) in the same year 2022. Autologous HSCT also increased in these and other hospitals in Lviv and Kyiv. The activities are now continuously increasing and will reach an even higher number in 2023. It rapidly became apparent that with HCT also the other hematological infrastructure had to be improved. While basic hematological diagnostics were available in the Ukraine, a possibility to have the most sophisticated diagnostics was created with the help of ASH and ASTCT. Blood or marrow samples from the whole country are now transferred weekly to the Munich Leukemia Lab (MLL) laboratory to be tested for cytological, cytogenetical, immunophenotyping, and molecular analyses and results made available to Ukrainian hospitals within a few days free of charge. Up to now samples from 341 patients from all Ukraine have been analyzed at diagnosis and at different time points during their treatment.

Conclusion

Despite the hostile environment, intense cooperation and support by international societies, private institutions, WHO, together with the personal involvement of the committed local physicians and the Ministry of Health were able to provide an example on how to establish a sustainable healthcare system for hematological patients in a low resource country in extreme distress. This effort represents a model that by using solidarity and new technologies may greatly impact other countries affected by socio-economic, or conflict challenges.

SK, IK and MA, TH, AG, AS, DR, DN contributed equally