French protocol for the diagnosis and management of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in autoimmune diseases

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for severe ADs was developed over the past 25 years and is now validated by national and international medical societies for severe early systemic sclerosis (SSc) and relapsing -remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and available as part of routine care in accredited center. HSCT is also recommended, with varying levels of evidence, as an alternative treatment for several ADs, when refractory to conventional therapy, including specific cases of connective tissue diseases or vasculitis, inflammatory neurological diseases, and more rarely severe refractory Crohn's disease. The aim of this document was to provide guidelines for the current indications, procedures and follow-up of HSCT in ADs. Patient safety considerations are central to guidance on patient selection and conditioning, always validated at the national MATHEC multidisciplinary team meeting (MDTM) based on recent (less than 3 months) thorough patient evaluation. HSCT procedural aspects and follow-up are then carried out within appropriately experienced and Joint Accreditation Committee of International Society for Cellular Therapy and SFGM-TC accredited centres in close collaboration with the ADs specialist. These French recommendations were performed according to HAS/FAI2R standard operating procedures and coordinated by the ile-de-France MATHEC Reference Centre for Rare Systemic Autoimmune Diseases (CRMR MATHEC) within the Filiere FAI2R and in association with the Filiere MaRIH. The task force consisted of 3 patients and 64 clinical experts from various specialties and French centres. These data -derived and consensus -derived recommendations will help clinicians to propose HSCT for their severe ADs patients in an evidence -based way. These recommendations also give directions for future clinical research in this area. These recommendations will be updated according to newly emerging data. Of note, other cell therapies that have not yet been approved for clinical practice or are the subject of ongoing clinical research will not be addressed in this document. (c) 2024 The Authors.