Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Autografting

BU/melphalan and auto-SCT in AML patients in first CR: a ‘Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Midollo Osseo (GITMO)’ retrospective study

Abstract

AML patients (total 129; median age =50 years; range 16–72) in first CR received BU and melphalan (BU/Mel) as conditioning regimen before auto-SCT. In all, 82 patients (63.6%) received PBSCs and 47 patients (36.4%) received BM cells. The distribution of cytogenetic categories was conventionally defined as favorable (15.5%), intermediate (60.1%) and unfavorable (24.3%). With a median follow-up of 31 months, the 8-year projected OS and disease-free survival (DFS) was 62 and 56% for the whole population, respectively. The relapse rate was 46% and the non-relapse mortality was 4.65%. Although PBSC transplantation led to a faster hematological recovery than BM transplantation, in univariate analysis the stem cell source, cytogenetics and different BU formulations did not significantly affect OS and DFS, whereas age and the number of post-remission chemotherapy cycles did have a significant effect on the clinical outcome. Multivariate analysis identified age <55 years as the only important independent predictor for OS and DFS. Our data suggest that BU/Mel, being associated with a low toxicity profile (mainly mucositis) and mortality, is an effective conditioning regimen even for high-risk AML patients in first CR undergoing auto-SCT.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Stone RM, Mayer RJ . Treatment of the newly diagnosed adult with de novo acute myeloid leukemia. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am 1993; 7: 47–64.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Rohatiner AZ, Gregory WM, Bassan R, Barnett MJ, Waxman J, Richards MA et al. Short-term therapy for acute myelogenous leukemia. J Clin Oncol 1988; 6: 218–226.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Cassileth PA, Begg CB, Bennett JM, Bozdech M, Kahn SB, Weiler C et al. A randomized study of the efficacy of consolidation therapy in adult acute nonlymphocytic leukemia. Blood 1984; 63: 843–847.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Burnett AK, Goldstone AH, Stevens RM, Hann IM, Rees JK, Gray RG et al. Randomised comparison of addition of autologous bone-marrow transplantation to intensive chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukaemia in first remission: results of MRC AML 10 trial. UK Medical Research Council Adult and Children's Leukaemia Working Parties. Lancet 1998; 351: 700–708.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Zittoun RA, Mandelli F, Willemze R, de Witte T, Labar B, Resegotti L et al. Autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation compared with intensive chemotherapy in acute myelogenous leukemia. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche Maligne dell'Adulto (GIMEMA) Leukemia Cooperative Groups. N Engl J Med 1995; 332: 217–223.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cassileth PA, Harrington DP, Appelbaum FR, Lazarus HM, Rowe JM, Paietta E et al. Chemotherapy compared with autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in the management of acute myeloid leukemia in first remission. N Engl J Med 1998; 339: 1649–1656.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Sirohi B, Powles R, Kulkarni S, Rudin C, Frassoni F, Bacigalupo A et al. Reassessing autotransplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in first remission-a matched pair analysis of autologous marrow vs peripheral blood stem cells. Bone Marrow Transplant 2004; 33: 1209–1214.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Collisson EA, Lashkari A, Malone R, Paquette R, Emmanouilides C, Territo MC et al. Long-term outcome of autologous transplantation of peripheral blood progenitor cells as postremission management of adult acute myelogenous leukemia in first complete remission. Leukemia 2003; 17: 2183–2188.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Isidori A, Bonifazi F, Visani G, Gherlinzoni F, Baccarani M, Lemoli RM . al. Autologous stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia patients in first complete remission: a 10-year follow-up study of 118 patients. Haematologica 2005; 90: 139–140.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Suciu S, Mandelli F, de Witte T, Zittoun RA, Gallo E, Labar B, et al., EORTC and GIMEMA Leukemia Groups. Allogeneic compared with autologous stem cell transplantation in the treatment of patients younger than 46 years with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1): an intention-to-treat analysis of the EORTC/GIMEMA AML-10 trial. Blood 2003; 102: 1232–1240.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Slovak ML, Kopecky KJ, Cassileth PA, Harrington DH, Theil KS, Mohamed A et al. Karyotypic analysis predicts outcome of preremission and postremission therapy in adult acute myeloid leukemia: a Southwest Oncology Group/Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group study. Blood 2000; 96: 4075–4083.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Linker C . The role of autologous transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in first and second remission. Best Pract Res Clin Haematol 2007; 20: 77–84. Review.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Tiedemann K, Waters KD, Tauro GP, Tucker D, Ekert H . Results of intensive therapy in childhood acute myeloid leukemia, incorporating high-dose melphalan and autologous bone marrow transplantation in first complete remission. Blood 1993; 82: 3730–3738.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Attal M, Harousseau JL, Facon T, Guilhot F, Doyen C, Fuzibet JG et al. InterGroupe Francophone du Myélome. Single versus double autologous stem-cell transplantation for multiple myeloma. N Engl J Med 2003; 349: 2495–2502.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Magagnoli M, Castagna L, Bramanti S, Balzarotti M, Santoro A . Single-agent high-dose melphalan followed by peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) in lymphoma patients: an effective, and well-tolerated conditioning regimen. Bone Marrow Transplant 2004; 33: 1067–1068.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Powles R, Sirohi B, Treleaven J, Kulkarni S, Tait D, Singhal S et al. The role of post transplantation maintenance chemotherapy in improving the outcome of auto transplantation in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood 2002; 100: 1641–1647.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Maraninichi D, Pico JL, Hartmann O, Gastaut JA, Kamioner D, Hayat M et al. High-dose melphalan with or without marrow transplantation: a study of dose-effect in patients with refractory and/or relapsed acute leukemias. Cancer Treat Rep 1986; 70: 445–448.

    Google Scholar 

  18. de Lima M, Anagnostopoulos A, Munsell M, Shahjahan M, Ueno N, Ippoliti C et al. Nonablative versus reduced-intensity conditioning regimens in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome: dose is relevant for long-term disease control after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Blood 2004; 104: 865–872.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Ehninger G, Platzbecker U, Thiede C, Illmer T, Schuler US, Schaich MA et al. Early allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation during induction chemotherapy in high-risk acute myeloid leukemia. Blood 2004; 104 (Suppl 1) (abstract 2299).

  20. Bennett JM, Catovsky D, Daniel MT, Flandrin G, Galton DA, Gralnick HR et al. Proposed revised criteria for the classification of acute myeloid leukemia. A report of the French-American-British cooperative group. Ann Intern Med 1985; 103: 620–625.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Mitelman F (ed) An International System for Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature. S. Karger: Basel, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Faucher C, Le Corroller AG, Chabannon C, Viens P, Stoppa AM, Bouabdallah R et al. Autologous transplantation of blood stem cells mobilized with filgrastim alone in 93 patients with malignancies: the number of CD34+ cells reinfused is the only factor predicting both granulocyte and platelet recovery. J Hematother 1996; 5: 663–670.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Miller AB, Hoogstraten B, Staquet M, Winkler A . Reporting results of cancer treatment. Cancer 1981; 47: 207–214.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kaplan E, Meier P . Nonparametric estimation from incomplete observations. J Am Stat Assoc 1958; 53: 457–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Lemoli RM, de Vivo A, Damiani D, Isidori A, Tani M, Bonini A et al. Autologous transplantation of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-primed bone marrow is effective to support myeloablative chemotherapy in patients with hematological malignancies and poor peripheral blood stem cell mobilization. Blood 2003; 102: 1595–1600.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Mehta J, Powles R, Singhal S, Horton C, Tait D, Milan S et al. Autologous bone marrow transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in first remission: identification of modifiable prognostic factors. Bone Marrow Transplant 1995; 16: 499–506.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Linker C . Autologous stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia. Bone Marrow Transplant 2003; 31: 731–738.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Vey N, Bouabdallah R, Stoppa A, Faucher C, Lafage M, Chabannon C et al. Autologous stem cell transplantation for acute myelogenous leukemia in first complete remission: a 6-year follow-up study of 101 patients from a single institution. Bone Marrow Transplant 2004; 33: 177–182.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Reiffers J, Labopin M, Sanz M, Korbling M, Blaise D, De La Rubia J et al. Autologous blood cell vs marrow transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in complete remission: an EBMT retrospective analysis. Bone Marrow Transplant 2000; 25: 1115–1119.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. de Witte T, Keating S, Suciu S, Zittoun R, Mandelli F, Amadori S et al. A randomized comparison of the value of autologous BMT versus autologous PSCT for patients with AML in first CR in the AML 10 trial of the EORTC LCG and GIMEMA. Blood 2001; 98 (Suppl 1): 859a (abstract 3565).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Gorin NC, Labopin M, Blaise D, Reiffers J, Meloni G, Michallet M et al. Higher incidence of relapse with peripheral blood rather than marrow as a source of stem cells in adults with acute myelocytic leukemia autografted during the first remission. J Clin Oncol 2009; 27: 3987–3993 (e-pub ahead of print 13 July 2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Moreau P, Facon T, Attal M, Hulin C, Michallet M, Maloisel F et al. Comparison of 200 mg/m2 melphalan and 8 Gy total body irradiation plus 140 mg/m2 melphalan as conditioning regimens for peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: final analysis of the intergroup Francophone du Myèlome 9502 randomized trial. Blood 2002; 99: 731–735.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Spielberger R, Stiff P, Bensinger W, Gentile T, Weisdorf D, Kewalramani T et al. Palifermin for oral mucositis after intensive therapy for hematologic cancers. N Engl J Med 2004; 351: 2590–2598.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Nagler A, Labopin M, Simoni L, Volin D, Bunjes A, Huynh A et al. Comparison of outcomes after allogeneic HSCT for adult patients with AML in remission using in the conditioning regimen either I.V. busulfex (BU) plus cyclophosphamide (CY) or TBI plus CY: an ALWP-EBMT survey. Bone Marrow Transplant 2009; 43 (Suppl 1): S26 (abstract 184).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Mehta J, Powles R, Sirhohi B, Treleaven J, Swansbury JG, Min T et al. Impact of cytogenetics on the outcome of autotransplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in first remission: is the benefit of intensive pre-transplant therapy limited to patients with good karyotypes. Blood 2001; 98 (Suppl 1): 716a (abstract 2993).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Grimwade D, Walker H, Oliver F, Wheatley K, Harrison C, Harrison G et al. The importance of diagnostic cytogenetics on outcome in AML: analysis of 1612 patients entered into the MRC AML 10 trial. Blood 1998; 92: 2322–2333.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Bloomfield CD, Lawrence D, Byrd JC, Carroll A, Pettenati MJ, Tantravahi R et al. Frequency of prolonged remission duration after high-dose cytarabine intensification in acute myeloid leukemia varies by cytogenetic subtype. Cancer Res 1998; 58: 4173–4179.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Gorin NC, Labopin M, Frassoni F, Milpied N, Attal M, Blaise D et al. Identical outcome after autologous or allogeneic genoidentical hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in first remission of acute myelocytic leukemia carrying inversion 16 or t(8;21): a retrospective study from the European Cooperative Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. J Clin Oncol 2008; 26: 3183–3188.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Thomas X, Suciu S, Rio B, Leone G, Broccia G, Fillet G et al. Autologous stem cell transplantation after complete remission and first consolidation in acute myeloid leukemia patients aged 61–70 years: results of the prospective EORTC-GIMEMA AML-13 study. Haematologica 2007; 92: 389–396.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Burnett AK, Mohite U . Treatment of older patients with acute myeloid leukemia–new agents. Semin Hemat 2006; 43: 96–106.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Clavio M, Vignolo L, Albarello A, Varaldo R, Pierri I, Catania G et al. Adding low-dose gemtuzumab ozogamicin to fludarabine, Ara-C and idarubicin (MY-FLAI) may improve disease-free and overall survival in elderly patients with non-M3 acute myeloid leukaemia: results of a prospective, pilot, multi-centre trial and comparison with a historical cohort of patients. Br J Haematol 2007; 138: 186–195.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (Progetto Strategico Oncologia, 2006), Regione Emilia-Romagna (Progetti di Ricerca Università-Regione Emilia Romagna, Progetto Medicina Rigenerativa, 2007) and the Italian Association Against Leukemia, Bologna (BolognAil).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R M Lemoli.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lemoli, R., D'Addio, A., Marotta, G. et al. BU/melphalan and auto-SCT in AML patients in first CR: a ‘Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Midollo Osseo (GITMO)’ retrospective study. Bone Marrow Transplant 45, 640–646 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2009.235

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2009.235

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links