Johanna Tischer, Arnon Nagler, Yener Koc, Sebastian Giebel, Annalisa Ruggeri, William Arcese, Boris V. Afanasyev, Myriam Labopin, He Huang, Nicole Santoro, Mohamad Mohty, Andrea Bacigalupo, Depei Wu, Stella Santarone, Zafer Gulbas, Fabio Ciceri, CHU Saint-Antoine [AP-HP], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU), Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Clinical Immunology [Perugia, Italy], Università degli Studi di Perugia (UNIPG), Department of Hematology II [Genova, Italy], Ospedale San Martino [Genova, Italy], Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore [Roma] (Unicatt), Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit [Milan, Italy], IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele [Milan, Italy], Hematology Department [Kocaeli, Turkey], Anadolu Medical Center [Kocaeli, Turkey], Bone Marrow Transplantation Center [Zhejiang, China], The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University-Zhejiang University School of Medicine [China], Hematology and Transplantology [St. Petersburg, Russian Federation], First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg [Russian Federation]-Ratsa Gorbacheva Memorial Children's Institute [St. Petersburg, Russian Federation], Department of Hematology [Rome, Italy], Stem Cell Transplant Unit [Rome, Italy], Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata [Roma]-Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata [Roma], Department of Hematology [Jiangsu, China], The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University [Suzhou, China], Stem Cell Transplant Unit [Antalya, Turkey], Medical Park Antalya Hospital [Turkey], Department of Internal Medicine III [Munich, Germany], Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation [Munich, Germany], Ludwig Maximilian University [Munich] (LMU)-Ludwig Maximilian University [Munich] (LMU), Department of Hematology and Trasfusional Medicine [Pescara, Italy], Ospedale Civile - BMT Center [Pescara, Italy], Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Onco-Hematology [Gliwice, Poland], Center of Oncology - Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Institute, Branch in Gliwice [Poland], Department of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation [Ramat Gan, Israel], Chaim Sheba Medical Center [Ramat Gan, Israel], Santoro, Nicole, Ruggeri, Annalisa, Labopin, Myriam, Bacigalupo, Andrea, Ciceri, Fabio, Gã¼lbaå , Zafer, Huang, He, Afanasyev, Bori, Arcese, William, Wu, Depei, Koc, Yener, Tischer, Johanna, Santarone, Stella, Giebel, Sebastian, Mohty, Mohamad, Nagler, Arnon, BMC, BMC, Università degli Studi di Perugia = University of Perugia (UNIPG), Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore = Catholic University of the Sacred Heart [Roma] (Unicatt), and Ratsa Gorbacheva Memorial Children's Institute [St. Petersburg, Russian Federation]-First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg [Russian Federation]
Background Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) is the most effective post-remission treatment for adults with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The aim of the study was to analyze results of unmanipulated haploidentical allo-SCT (haplo-SCT) for adults with ALL and to identify prognostic factors. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis on 208 adults transplanted in EBMT centers from 2007 to 2014. Results Median age at haplo-SCT was 32 years and median follow-up, 31 months. Forty-four percent of the patients were in first complete remission (CR1). Stem cell source was the bone marrow (BM) for 43% and peripheral blood (PB) for 57% of patients. Myeloablative conditioning (MAC) was used for 66% and reduced intensity regimen (RIC) for 34% of patients. GVHD prophylaxis was based on post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PT-Cy) for 118 (57%) or on anti-thymocyte-globulin (ATG) for 90 (43%) plus standard prophylaxis. One hundred eighty-four (92%) patients achieved engraftment. Cumulative incidence (CI) of grade II–IV acute-graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) was 31%, grade III–IV 11%, and chronic GVHD 29%. Non-relapse mortality (NRM) and relapse-incidence (RI) were 32 and 37%, respectively. Overall survival (OS), leukemia-free survival (LFS), and GVHD-free, relapse-free-survival (GRFS) at 3 years were 33, 31, and 26%. For patients in CR1, OS, LFS, and GRFS were 52, 47, and 40%, respectively. Disease status was the main factor associated with transplant outcomes. Use of BM was independently associated with improvement in NRM, acute GVHD, GRFS, LFS, and OS. Conclusions Unmanipulated haplo-SCT may be considered a valid option for adult patients with high-risk ALL lacking HLA identical donor preferably in early disease status. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13045-017-0480-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.