title: The role of posttransplantation maintenance chemotherapy in improving the outcome of autotransplantation in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: Extending the principle of conventional acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) therapy to transplantation, 77 adult patients receiving autografts in first remission after melphalan with or without total body irradiation were scheduled to receive 6-mercaptopurine (6MP), methotrexate (MTX), and vincristine-prednisone (VP) for 2 years after transplantation to reduce relapse. Seventy-one percent of patients received 6MP, 57% received MTX, and 38% received VP. Thirty patients had a relapse at 1.5 to 80 months (median, 12.5 months), 15 in the first year and 7 beyond 3 years. The cumulative incidence of relapse at 10 years was 42% (95% CI, 31%-55%). The 10-year probabilities of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall (OS) survival were 50% (95% CI, 38%-62%) and 53% (95% CI, 41%-65%), respectively. Age older than 30 years, more than 4 weeks to attain remission, and high-risk karyotypes, for example, t(9;22) or t(4;11), were adverse features contributing to the identification of 3 prognostic risk groups with 0, 1, and 2 adverse features, respectively: standard (47%), intermediate (36%), and high (17%). The 10-year cumulative incidences of relapse (20%, 48%, 85%; P <.0001) and probabilities of DFS (72%, 41%, 10%; P =.0003) were significantly different among these groups. In Cox analysis of the 71 patients alive and well 120 days after transplantation, those receiving 2 or 3 maintenance chemotherapy agents had significantly lower relapse rates and superior DFS compared with those receiving 0 or 1 agent. Our data suggest that maintenance chemotherapy improves the outcome of patients with ALL undergoing autografting. However, it is unlikely that autograft-based strategies are optimal for the high-risk group of patients who should be considered for alternative-donor allograft procedures.
authors.affiliation: Leukaemia Unit, The Royal Marsden Hospital, Surrey, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Powles
authors.forename: Bhawna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sirohi
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Treleaven
authors.forename: Samar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tait
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singhal
authors.forename: Jayesh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mehta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015122:Mercaptopurine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008875:Middle Aged; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D014750:Vincristine; D015122:Mercaptopurine; D011241:Prednisone; D008727:Methotrexate