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Autologous stem cell transplantation for therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 39, page 509 (2007)Cite this article

N Kröger et al. recently reported the results of a retrospective analysis of 65 patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation for therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS). The authors analyzed European bone marrow transplantation registry data and showed that the Kaplan–Meier estimates of the probability of 3-year overall and disease-free survival were 35 and 32%, respectively.1 These figures exceed the results obtained with allogeneic stem cell transplantation and support the autologous approach as an alternative for patients with t-AML/t-MDS.2, 3

The data presented in this publication, however, should be interpreted with caution. t-AML and t-MDS differ markedly from their de novo counterparts. Clonal chromosomal aberrations are detected in up to 97% of cases with t-AML/t-MDS and cytogenetic markers indicating a poor prognosis (7q-/-7, 5q-/-5, rearrangements involving 11q23 and complex aberrant karyotypes) predominate.4, 5, 6 In contrast, the patient collective described by Kröger et al. showed a normal karyotype in 14/34 (41%) cases with available cytogenetics and high-risk markers in only 7/34 (23%). Furthermore, 33/65 (51%) patients were younger than 40 years, indicating a lower median age than that reported in large t-AML/t-MDS studies which was uniformly over 50 years.4, 6, 7

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    H Sill & W Zinke-Cerwenka

  2. Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    A Berghold

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  1. H Sill
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  2. W Zinke-Cerwenka
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  3. A Berghold
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Correspondence to H Sill.

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Sill, H., Zinke-Cerwenka, W. & Berghold, A. Autologous stem cell transplantation for therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Bone Marrow Transplant 39, 509 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705603

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