Clinical features and outcomes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia: the single-center experience of 668 patients in China

Objective: To investigate efficacy and prognostic factors in the treatment of adult newly-diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with or without allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 668 patients with newly-diagnosed AML (non-M3 type) in the Department of Hematology at Shanghai Changhai Hospital from January 2012 to December 2021. Based on different induction chemotherapy regimens, patients were categorized into an IA (idarubicin, IDA + cytarabine, Ara-C) (3 + 7, regimen) group (n = 303) and a DA (daunorubicin, DNR + cytarabine, Ara-C) (3 + 7, regimen) group (n = 365) with or without allo-HSCT. Minimal residual disease (MRD), complete response (CR), overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse effects (AE) were analyzed and compared. Characteristics significantly associated with overall or progression-free survival (OS or PFS) upon univariate analysis were subsequently included in a Cox proportional hazard model. Results: This study used data from 668 AML patients. After induction therapy, the CR rate in the IA group was 70.63% and ORR was 79.87%, which were significantly higher than those in the DA group (with a CR rate of 56.99% and an ORR of 70.14%) (P = 0.0002 and P = 0.0035, respectively). There were no significant differences in drug safety between the two chemotherapy regimens used in IA and DA (P > 0.05). The recurrence rate was lower in patients with an MRD < 0.001 than in patients with an MRD >= 0.001. A continuous negative MRD during the period is significant because it is associated with prolonged OS and PFS of AML patients. Data from 100 patients in the two groups who underwent allo-HSCT were analyzed using univariate analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model. From the multivariate analysis, MRD was found to be the only independent predictor of OS (P = 0.042; HR 1; 95%CI 0.00-0.76). Conclusion: In the treatment of adult AML patients, IA regimen is associated with a high CR rate and ORR rate and does not increase treatment-related toxicity. IA regimen prolongs OS and PFS in AML patients and reduces the likelihood of leukemia cells' subsequent infiltration into the central nervous system. There is a high correlation between the level of MRD after treatment and the patient's bone marrow recurrence. To obtain superior treatment effects for patients undergoing allo-HSCT, the MRD should be reduced to less than 0.001 before pretreatment. A negative MRD before allo-HSCT can prolong OS in patients with AML. We examined the clinical characteristics and outcomes of AML patients in China, finding novel information on prognostic factors and primary treatment of AML that may be applicable in routine clinical practice.