High-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation in acute myeloid leukemia

For younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an allogeneic transplant from a matched sibling may afford the best chance of cure. In patients who are older or without a matched sibling donor, dose intensification can be achieved with an autologous bone marrow transplant (ABMT). We report here the results of a high-dose chemotherapy regime with nonpurged ABMT in 82 adult patients in first remission of AML with a median follow-up of 31 months. The median age was 40 years (range 16 to 57 years). The median interval between remission and ABMT was 5 months (range 1 to 12 months). Twenty-eight of these patients received a second course of the same high-dose chemotherapy and ABMT. The procedure related mortality rate was 6%. The projected leukemia-free survival (LFS) at 5 years is 48% for all 82 patients and 50% for the 76 patients with no known preceding myelodysplastic syndrome. For those patients with primary AML who received a double ABMT the projected LFS is 67%. The interval between remission and ABMT did not predict for either relapse or LFS. ABMT using a multidrug chemotherapy protocol is less toxic than allogeneic BMT yet results in a similar LFS.