Haematologica, Vol 91, Issue 6, 833-836
Copyright © 2006 by Ferrata Storti Foundation
The effect of allogeneic stem cell transplantation on outcome in younger acute myeloid leukemia patients with minimal residual disease detected by flow cytometry at the end of post-remission chemotherapy
E Laane,
AR Derolf,
E Bjorklund,
J Mazur,
H Everaus,
S Soderhall,
M Bjorkholm,
and
A Porwit-MacDonald
Department of Pathology and Cytology, Karolinska University Hospital Solna and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Minimal residual disease (MRD) levels were determined by multi-parameter flow cytometry in 45 younger adult patients ( pound60 years old) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in complete remission. Data were collected after induction (MRD1; n=43) and/or at the end of post-remission chemotherapy or before stem cell transplantation (SCT)(MRD2; n=31). Patients with detectable MRD2 who underwent allogeneic or autologous SCT had significantly better 5-year relapse-free survival than patients not transplanted (80%, 53% and 0%, respectively p=0.003). Therefore allogeneic SCT should be considered in younger adult AML patients with detectable MRD at the end of post-remission chemotherapy. Autologous SCT may be an alternative for patients not eligible for allogeneic SCT.
