Thiotepa, busulfan and fludarabine conditioning-regimen is a promising approach for older adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplant. 2023 Jan;58(1):61-67. doi: 10.1038/s41409-022-01841-0. Epub 2022 Oct 12.

Abstract

For acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients, total body irradiation (TBI)- based conditioning regimens are the first choice specially in young population. However, several studies have shown an equivalence in clinical outcomes with thiotepa-based conditioning regimen. We performed a retrospective study to evaluate the outcome of adult ALL patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) with a thiotepa-busulfan-fludarabine (TBF) myeloablative conditioning regimen with reduced toxicity. Fifty-five patients received a TBF regimen. The median age of the patients was 51 years (range, 17 to 72.4). Most patients had a diagnosis of B-ALL (93%) with 7% having T-ALL. Two - and 5-year overall survival was 73.2% and 64%, respectively. At 2 years, leukemia-free survival and GVHD-free, relapse-free survival were 59.5% and 57.6%, and at 5 years, 53.4% and 51.8%, respectively. The 5-year non-relapse mortality was 15%. The day 180 cumulative incidence (CI) of grade II-IV acute GVHD and grade III-IV acute GVHD were 38.2% and 5.5%, respectively. At 2 years, the CI of chronic GVHD and extensive chronic GVHD was 16.9% and 1.9%, respectively. Our study results do suggest that using TBF as the conditioning regimen in adult ALL patients is a promising option with acceptable toxicity.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Busulfan / therapeutic use
  • Graft vs Host Disease*
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation* / methods
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* / therapy
  • Middle Aged
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* / complications
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Thiotepa / therapeutic use
  • Transplantation Conditioning / methods
  • Vidarabine / therapeutic use
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Busulfan
  • Thiotepa
  • fludarabine
  • Vidarabine