Long-term outcome of patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia: a randomized comparison of stem cell transplantation with drug treatment.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors represent today's treatment of choice in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is regarded as salvage therapy. This prospective randomized CML-study IIIA recruited 669 patients with newly diagnosed CML between July 1997 and January 2004 from 143 centers. Of these, 427 patients were considered eligible for HSCT and were randomized by availability of a matched family donor between primary HSCT (group A; N=166 patients) and best available drug treatment (group B; N=261). Primary end point was long-term survival. Survival probabilities were not different between groups A and B (10-year survival: 0.76 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.69-0.82) vs 0.69 (95% CI: 0.61-0.76)), but influenced by disease and transplant risk. Patients with a low transplant risk showed superior survival compared with patients with high- (P<0.001) and non-high-risk disease (P=0.047) in group B; after entering blast crisis, survival was not different with or without HSCT. Significantly more patients in group A were in molecular remission (56% vs 39%; P=0.005) and free of drug treatment (56% vs 6%; P<0.001). Differences in symptoms and Karnofsky score were not significant. In the era of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, HSCT remains a valid option when both disease and transplant risk are considered.

Phase III study of all-trans retinoic acid in previously untreated patients 61 years or older with acute myeloid leukemia.

The purpose of our study was (i) to evaluate the impact of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) given as adjunct to chemotherapy and (ii) to compare second consolidation vs maintenance therapy in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). A total of 242 patients aged >or=61 years (median, 66.6 years) with AML were randomly assigned to ATRA beginning on day +3 after the initiation of chemotherapy (ATRA-arm, n=122) or no ATRA (standard-arm, n=120) in combination with induction and first consolidation therapy. A total of 61 patients in complete remission (CR) were randomly assigned to second intense consolidation (n=31) or 1-year oral maintenance therapy (n=30). After induction therapy the intention-to-treat analysis revealed a significant difference in CR rates between the ATRA- and the standard-arm (52 vs 39%; P=0.05). Event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were significantly better in the ATRA-compared to the standard-arm (P=0.03 and 0.01, respectively). OS after second randomization was significantly better for patients assigned to intensive consolidation therapy (P<0.001). The multivariate model for survival revealed lactate dehydrogenase, cytogenetic risk group, age, and first and second randomization as prognostic variables. In conclusion, the addition of ATRA to induction and consolidation therapy may improve CR rate, EFS and OS in elderly patients with AML.

Risk-adapted postremission therapy in acute myeloid leukemia: results of the German multicenter AML HD93 treatment trial.

The objective of the AML HD93 treatment trial was to evaluate the outcome in young adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after postremission therapy was stratified according to cytogenetically defined risk. The rationales for the study design were based (i) on previous favorable results with high-dose cytarabine in AML with t(8;21), inv/t(16q22) and in AML with normal karyotype, and ii) on encouraging results obtained in several phase II trials using autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT). Between July 1993 and January 1998, 223 eligible patients, 16-60 years of age with newly diagnosed AML other than French-American-British type M3/M3v, were entered into the trial. Risk groups were defined as follows: low risk: t(8;21) or inv/t(16q22); intermediate risk: normal karyotype; high risk: all other chromosomal abnormalities. Following intensive double induction therapy with idarubicin, cytarabine and etoposide, all patients in complete remission (CR) received a first consolidation therapy with high-dose cytarabine and mitoxantrone (HAM). A second consolidation therapy was stratified according to the risk group: low risk: HAM; intermediate risk: related allogeneic SCT or sequential HAM; high risk: related allogeneic or autologous SCT. Double induction therapy resulted in a high CR rate of 74.5%, and 90% of the responding patients were eligible for consolidation therapy. Survival for all 223 trial entrants was 40%, and for the 166 patients who entered CR, disease-free (DFS) and overall survival were 40 and 51% after 5 years, respectively. Within the low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups, DFS and survival after 5 years were 62.5 and 87, 40 and 49 and 17 and 26% respectively, without advantage for allogeneic transplantation in the intermediate- and high-risk groups. Postremission therapy-related mortality was 0, 7 and 14%, respectively. This study demonstrates the feasibility of cytogenetically defined risk-adapted consolidation therapy. The overall trial results are at least equivalent to those of published trials supporting the risk-adapted treatment strategy.