title: Bone marrow transplantation versus chemotherapy in the treatment of very high-risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first remission: results from Medical Research Council UKALL X and XI.
abstract: The role of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in first remission of children with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remains unclear. There were 3676 patients (aged 1 to 15 years) entered into the United Kingdom (UK) Medical Research Council (MRC) trials UKALL X and XI from 1985 to 1997. Of these patients, 473 patients (13%) were classified as very high (VH) risk and were eligible for a transplantation from a matched histocompatible sibling donor (MSD). We tissue-typed 286 patients; 99 patients had a matched related donor, and 76 patients received transplantations. Additionally, 25 children received transplantations from a matched unrelated donor (MUD) despite trial guidelines for MSD transplantations only. The median time to transplantation was 5 months (range, 2 to 19 months), and the median follow-up was 8 years. The 10-year event-free survival (EFS) adjusted for the time to transplantation, diagnostic white blood cell (WBC) count, Ph chromosome status, and ploidy was 6. 0% higher (95% confidence interval (CI), -10.5% to 22.5%) for 101 patients who received a first-remission transplantation (MSD and MUD) than for the 351 patients treated with chemotherapy (transplantation, 45.3%, vs chemotherapy, 39.3%). The transplantation group had fewer relapses (31%) compared to relapses in the chemotherapy group (55%); however, the transplantation group had more remission deaths (18%) compared to remission deaths in the chemotherapy group (3%). In contrast the adjusted 10-year EFS was 10. 7% higher (95% CI, -2.6% to 24.0%) for patients without a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donor than for those patients with a donor (no donor, 50.4%, vs donor, 39.7%). In conclusion, for the majority of children with VH-risk ALL, the first-remission transplantation has not improved EFS.
authors.affiliation: John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, England. kate.wheeler@paediatrics.oxford.ac.uk
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Hann
authors.forename: F G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chessells
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D010677:Philadelphia Chromosome; D011003:Ploidies; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D012307:Risk Factors; D006113:United Kingdom