SINGLE-INSTITUTION RESULTS OF AUTOLOGOUS BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION IN ACUTE MYELOID-LEUKEMIA

Background. Current results of autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) suggest that this procedure may prolong disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Materials and Methods. Over the last ten years, 29 AML patients received unpurged autologous bone marrow (BM) after a conditioning regimen including Ara-C (3 g/m(2)/12h, days -9, -8), CTX (60 mg/kg/day, days -6, -5) and TBI (3.33 Gy/day, days -3 through -1). In 21 patients, ABMT was performed as late intensification after first CR. Eight more relapsing patients were autografted after the achievement of second CR. Results. Three patients died from transplant-related complications. In the remaining patients, mean times to WBC and platelet recovery were, respectively, 23 days (range 13-55) and 55 days (range 22-790). Follow-up for censored patients ranged from 1 to 120 months. Relapse occurred in 7 patients (5 in first and 2 in second CR). Overall 5-year DFS and event-free survival (EFS) chances were, respectively, 67.3% and 60%, with no statistically significant differences between first (DFS=67.3%, EFS=60.3%) and second CR (DFS=68.6%, EFS=60%). Discussion. Apart from obvious selection biases, our study suggests that outcome in first CR AML patients is improved by ABMT. Long-term DFS and EFS are clearly better than when conventional post-remission chemotherapies are used. The greater antileukemic potential of ABMT is further underlined by the results in patients autografted in second CR, when conventional chemotherapy is almost never curative.