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Acute leukemia

Factors predicting outcome after allogeneic transplant in refractory acute myeloid leukemia: a retrospective analysis of Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Midollo Osseo (GITMO)

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Abstract

The clinical outcome of primary refractory (PRF) AML patients is poor and only a minor proportion of patients is rescued by allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The identification of pre-HSCT variables may help to determine PRF AML patients who can most likely benefit from HSCT. We analyzed PRF AML patients transplanted between 1999 and 2012 from a sibling, unrelated donor or a cord blood unit. Overall, 227 patients from 26 Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Midollo Osseo e Terapia cellulare centers were included in the analysis. At 3 years, the overall survival was 14%. By multivariate analysis, the number of chemotherapy cycles, (hazard ratio (HR): 1.87; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24–2.85; P=0.0028), the percentage of bone marrow or peripheral blood blasts (HR: 1.75; 95% CI: 1.16–2.64; P=0.0078), the adverse cytogenetic (HR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.00–2.07; P=0.0508) and the age of patients (HR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.08–2.88; P=0.0223) remained significantly associated with survival. Thus, we set up a new score predicting at 3 years after transplantation, an overall survival probability of 32% for patients with score 0 (no or 1 prognostic factor), 10% for patients with score 1 (2 prognostic factors) and 3% for patients with score 2 (3 or 4 prognostic factors).

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Acknowledgements

We thank all GITMO centers for their remarkable contribution in patients’ care and assistance to their families, and for their attention and dedication in sending patients data (see Supplementary Appendix 1).

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Correspondence to A Rambaldi.

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Todisco, E., Ciceri, F., Boschini, C. et al. Factors predicting outcome after allogeneic transplant in refractory acute myeloid leukemia: a retrospective analysis of Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Midollo Osseo (GITMO). Bone Marrow Transplant 52, 955–961 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2016.325

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