Hyper-CVAD Compared With BFM-like Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. A Retrospective Single-Center Analysis

Several induction regimens have been developed for adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We show that the hyper-CVAD (hyper fractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone) regimen appears to be feasible for adult patients with ALL in terms of tolerability and efficacy. The combination of tyrosine kinase inhibitors for Philadelphia chromosome-positive ((+)) patients and rituximab for CD20(+) patients were significantly more frequent in the hyper-CVAD arm and might have affected outcomes favorably. There is still a need for large, prospective, randomized studies to establish the best induction regimen for adult ALL patients. Background: Several induction regimens have been developed for treatment of adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, only a few prospective randomized trials have directly compared these regimens. Patients and Methods: In this report, we retrospectively evaluated the outcome of 62 adult ALL patients treated with either hyper-CVAD (hyper fractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone; n = 38) or a BFM (Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster)-like regimen (n = 24) between November 2000 and January 2016 at the American university of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon. The feasibility of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) for those patients was also evaluated. Results: The median follow-up time was 29 (range, 1-129) months. Fifteen (39%) and 10 (42%) patients underwent allo-SCT in the hyper-CVAD and BFM-like group, respectively. At the time of the last follow-up, 28 patients (74%) were in complete remission in the hyper-CVAD group versus 18 patients (75%) in the BFM-like group. Of those, 20 patients (53%) versus 11 patients (46%) were minimal residual disease-negative at the last follow-up, respectively. The 3-year overall survival rate (71.9% vs. 76.9%; P=.808) and 3-year disease-free survival (54.7% vs. 76.4%; P=.435) were similar in hyper-CVAD group compared with the BFM-like group, respectively. Both chemotherapies were relatively well tolerated. Conclusion: Overall, despite the older age and a greater number of patients with high-risk category (including Philadelphia chromosome-positive) in the hyper-CVAD group, this did not translate into a difference in survival outcome between the 2 groups. The hyper-CVAD regimen appears to be feasible for adult patients with ALL in terms of tolerability and efficacy. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.