Outcome of allogeneic stem cell transplantation with active disease in acute myeloid leukemia

Introduction: Despite multiple lines of chemotherapy, some patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can not achieve remission. The prognosis of these patients is quite poor and they should be evaluated for clinical trials, otherwise myeloablative conditioning regimens followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation (Allo-SCT) should be performed to overcome the active disease which is resistant to conventional doses and as it is the only curative option. Method: In this study, we evaluated the outcome of AML patients who underwent Allo-SCT with active disease in our center retrospectively. Results: A total of 161 AML patients underwent Allo-SCT between December 2009 and November 2018 at our center. 130 of them underwent Allo-SCT in complete remission while 31 of 161 had to undergo Allo-SCT with active disease due to refractoriness to salvage therapies. The median overall survival (OS) was 7.9 ± 2.8 months. 6-month OS was 25% and 1-year OS was only 6%. Progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.53 ± 1.1 months. The transplant-related mortality rate was 12.8%. Conclusion: OS and PFS are short in patients who undergo Allo-SCT with active disease so novel treatment approaches and targeted therapies should be developed to overcome active disease that are refractory to conventional chemotherapies.