Refining the Role of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia as Novel Therapies Emerge

Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2016 Dec;22(12):2126-2133. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2016.06.027. Epub 2016 Jun 29.

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a rare adult neoplasm. The disorder consists of precursor B or T phenotypes. In the pediatric population, ALL was a success story in that 80% of children with ALL enjoy long-term survival. In adults, similar complete remission rates are achieved with current induction regimens; however, less than 50% of patients are alive at 5 years, with most deaths due to relapsed disease. Accordingly, optimizing post remission consolidation therapy might improve in outcomes. Such strategies may include chemotherapy and autologous or allogeneic transplant. Moreover, the ability to modify such therapy based on better disease risk stratification while taking into account patient characteristics such as performance status and presence of comorbidities is necessary to tailor treatment accordingly. Here, we review available medical literature on the use of hematopoietic cell transplantation as a consolidation modality in the treatment of adult ALL.

Keywords: ALL; Hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Consolidation Chemotherapy
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / methods
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / mortality
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Precision Medicine
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / mortality*
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / therapy*
  • Remission Induction
  • Risk Assessment