Outcome of children with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia improved over time in the Netherlands between 1998 and 2018

Background: Relapse is a major cause of treatment failure in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The prognosis of children with relapsed AML is poor. Population-based data for this patient group are scarce. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the outcome of Dutch pediatric patients with relapsed AML by describing trends in survival against the background of first-line treatment protocols: ANLL-97 and AML 15 (1998–2009) versus DB AML-01 and NOPHO-DBH-AML-2012 (2010–2018). Material and methods: We retrospectively analyzed outcome and clinical data of all pediatric patients (1 year) was an independent favorable prognostic factor of (event-free) survival. Conclusion: Survival of Dutch pediatric patients with relapsed AML has improved significantly between 1998 and 2018, but remains dismal. Treatment during the period 2010–2018 and late relapse were favorable prognostic factors for OS and EFS.