Efficacy and Feasibility of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation in the Treatment of Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background: Refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) includes AML includes failure of disease to respond to standard induction chemotherapy, relapse within 6 months after first CR, and 2 or more relapses. The outcome of these patients is usually very poor; only a small proportion can be rescued by allogenic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of allo-HSCT in patients with refractory AML.

Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcome of 91 patients who were diagnosed with treatment-refractory AML at Hacettepe University Hospital between January 2002 and June 2018. Patients' disease status included refractory AML, defined as failure to respond to standard induction chemotherapy and relapse within 6 months after first complete remission.

Results: The median follow-up was 12 months (range, 0.5-184 months) for the entire group. Kaplan-Meier estimates of the 3-year overall survival for patients who underwent allo-HSCT and patients who received only salvage chemotherapy were 67% and 12%, respectively. Additionally, the Kaplan-Meier estimates of 5-year overall survival for patients who underwent allo-HSCT and patients who received only salvage chemotherapy were 44% and 4%, respectively (P < .001). Complete remission was obtained in 25 patients (83.3%) who underwent allo-HSCT; however, the disease of only 3 patients (3.8%) exhibited complete response after salvage chemotherapy.

Conclusion: Allo-HSCT is still the best-known treatment option with curative potential in patients with treatment-refractory AML. Therefore, all efforts should be made in an attempt to find a suitable matched donor in order to perform allo-HSCT.