Prospective outcome data on 267 unselected adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia confirms superiority of allogeneic transplantation over chemotherapy in the pre-imatinib era: results from the International ALL Trial MRC UKALLXII/ECOG2993

Blood. 2009 May 7;113(19):4489-96. doi: 10.1182/blood-2009-01-199380. Epub 2009 Feb 24.

Abstract

Prospective data on the value of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) in Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph(+)) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are limited. The UKALLXII/ECOG 2993 study evaluated the outcome of assigning alloHSCT with a sibling (sib) or matched unrelated donor (MUD) to patients younger than 55 years of age achieving complete remission (CR). The CR rate of 267 patients, median age 40, was 82%. Twenty-eight percent of patients proceeded to alloHSCT in first CR. Age older than 55 years or a pre-HSCT event were the most common reasons for failure to progress to alloHSCT. At 5 years, overall survival (OS) was 44% after sib alloHSCT, 36% after MUD alloHSCT, and 19% after chemotherapy. After adjustment for sex, age, and white blood count and excluding chemotherapy-treated patients who relapsed or died before the median time to alloHSCT, only relapse-free survival remained significantly superior in the alloHSCT group (odds ratio 0.31, 95% confidence interval 0.16-0.61). An intention-to-treat analysis, using the availability or not of a matched sibling donor, showed 5-year OS to be nonsignificantly better at 34% with a donor versus 25% with no donor. This prospective trial in adult Ph(+) ALL indicates a modest but significant benefit to alloHSCT. This trial has been registered with clinicaltrials.gov under identifier NCT00002514 and as ISRCTN77346223.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Multicenter Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Benzamides
  • Female
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation*
  • Humans
  • Imatinib Mesylate
  • Immunophenotyping
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / genetics
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / therapy
  • Philadelphia Chromosome*
  • Piperazines / therapeutic use*
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / genetics
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / pathology
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / therapy*
  • Prognosis
  • Prospective Studies
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Pyrimidines / therapeutic use*
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Remission Induction
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Survival Rate
  • Transplantation, Homologous
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Benzamides
  • Piperazines
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Pyrimidines
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Imatinib Mesylate
  • Protein-Tyrosine Kinases

Associated data

  • ISRCTN/ISRCTN77346223
  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT00002514