The introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) has revolutionized therapy for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who have the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 102 adults and 11 children who received a first-matched related (n = 60), matched unrelated (n = 40), mismatched cord blood (n = 12), or haploidentical (n = 1) allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for Ph-positive (Ph+) ALL in first complete remission (n = 71), second complete remission (n = 11), or with active disease (n = 31) between 1990 and 2009. Sixty-seven patients received TKI with upfront ALL therapy, and 32 patients received TKI maintenance following HSCT. With median follow-up of 5 years among survivors (range: 1.1-20.4 years), overall survival (OS) was significantly better for patients transplanted in first remission compared with HSCT in advanced disease: 43% versus 16%, P = .002. Disease stage and age at time of HSCT, the development of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), and decade of HSCT were found to significantly impact OS, progression-free survival (PFS), and nonrelapse mortality (NRM) in multivariate analyses. Allogeneic HSCT provides durable remission for patients with Ph+ ALL in first remission. Neither TKI use pre- nor post-HSCT were found to significantly impact transplant outcomes in univariate and multivariate analyses.
Copyright © 2012 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.