Stem cell transplantation as consolidation therapy for children in first-remission AML: a single-center report

A large number of patients affected by acute myeloid leukemia (AML) achieve complete remission following induction chemotherapy based on high-dose aracytin and anthracyclines. However, a postremission consolidation treatment appears to be essential to maintain the remission status. Sixteen patients with newly diagnosed AML received induction chemotherapy according to the AIEOP LAM 92P/Mod protocol. All patients were HLA-typed, and if no donor was identified within the family, patients underwent autologous stem cell transplantation (autoSCT) with mafosfamide-purged bone marrow. Patients with very high-risk AML (cytogenetics with t(9;22), hyperleukocytosis (540x10(9)/L), and AML-M7 with trilineage myelodysplasia) underwent unrelated donor transplantation. One patient relapsed before autoSCT. Eleven patients underwent autoSCT with purged bone marrow, 3 patients underwent unrelated donor transplantation (UD), and 1 patient underwent HLA-identical, matched familiar donor transplantation (MFD). All patients achieved complete remission following one course. No treatment-related deaths occurred during first-line treatment. The median interval between diagnosis and transplant was 175 days (129-277). Three patients relapsed following autoSCT; none relapsed after alloSCT. Taking stem cell transplantation as the starting point, overall survival was 93%, disease-free survival (according to the chosen treatment) was 80%, the relapse rate was 20%, and transplant-related mortality was 0%.