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Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for childhood relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia: comparison of outcome in patients with and without a matched family donor

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 30, pages 1–7 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

We evaluated the role of BMT in a cohort of 56 children with ALL relapsing after uniform initial treatment protocols in a single institution between 1990 and 1997. The patients were commenced on a single intensive chemotherapy regimen. All patients with a matched family donor (MFD) were recommended to receive BMT. The outcome was significantly better for patients with a MFD. The overall survival at 8 years was 60.0% (95% CI 35.7–77.6%) and 13.5% (95% CI 4.0–28.6%) for patients with and without MFDs (log-rank chi = 7.50 P = 0.0062). The event-free survival at 8 years was 55.0% (95% CI 11.1–31.3%) and 9.2% (95% CI 2.0–23.3%) for patients with and without MFDs (log-rank chi = 8.87 P = 0.0029). Multivariate analysis confirmed the survival advantage of BMT. There was no statistically significant difference in survival for patients initially relapsing within 3 years of first remission compared to children relapsing beyond 3 years. BMT provides a clear survival advantage for children following their first relapse of ALL. We recommend BMT for all children following first relapse of ALL if a MFD is available.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out whilst Ms Nielsen was an elective student, supported by the Johan Vermeij Stichting and the Free University fund. Marie Bleakley is supported by the Leukaemia Research and Support Fund.

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  1. Oncology Unit, The Children's Hospital at Westmead (Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children), Sydney, NSW, Australia

    M Bleakley, PJ Shaw & JM Nielsen

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Bleakley, M., Shaw, P. & Nielsen, J. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for childhood relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia: comparison of outcome in patients with and without a matched family donor. Bone Marrow Transplant 30, 1–7 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1703601

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