Contemporary evaluation of acute myeloid leukemia patients with long-term survival exceeding 5 years

Objectives: Define clinical and laboratory attributes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with long-term survival exceeding five years and compare them with AML patients succumbing to disease within 2 years of diagnosis.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of AML patients alive at least five years from the time of initial diagnosis. Baseline clinical data were compared with patients who died within 2 years of diagnosis.

Results: The long-term cohort consisted of 93 patients treated in 2007-2016 with a median follow-up duration of 7.7 years (range 5-13.6 years). European LeukemiaNet (ELN) 2017 favorable risk patients accounted for 60% of the cohort. All long-term survivors achieved remission following induction chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis showed that compared with 132 patients experiencing death within 2 years of diagnosis, long-term survivors were more likely to be of younger age [odds ratio (OR), 0.92; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.9-0.95; p < 0.001], have a lower initial WBC count (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.43-0.79; p = 0.0004), undergo an allogeneic stem cell transplantation (OR, 7.95; 95% CI, 3.07-20.59; p < 0.0001), and harbor favorable risk cytogenetics (OR, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.006-0.23; p = 0.0004).

Conclusions: Long-term survival of AML is seen in a distinct demographic and biologic patient subset.