Rp. Gale et al., HLA-IDENTICAL SIBLING BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTS VS CHEMOTHERAPY FOR ACUTE MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA IN FIRST REMISSION, Leukemia, 10(11), 1996, pp. 1687-1691
There is controversy whether adults with acute myelogenous leukemia (A
ML) in first remission are best treated with chemotherapy or an HLA-id
entical sibling bone marrow transplant. We studied 1097 adults, 16-50
years old, with AML in first remission. Results of transplants from HL
A-identical siblings reported to the International Bone Marrow Transpl
ant Registry (IBMTR; n=901) were compared with results of chemotherapy
in comparable persons treated by the German AML Cooperative Group (GA
MLCG; n=196). Preliminary analyses identified subject- and disease-rel
ated variables differing between the cohorts and associated with treat
ment outcome within each cohort. We adjusted for these variables and d
ifferences in time-to-treatment in subsequent comparisons of treatment
-related mortality, relapse, survival and leukemia-free survival (LFS)
. Five-year probability of treatment-related mortality was greater for
transplants than chemotherapy (43% (95% confidence interval, 37-49%)
vs 7% (3-11%); P < 0.0001). Five-year relapse probability was less for
transplants than chemotherapy (24% (20-28%) vs 63% (55-71%); P < 0.00
01). Five-year probability of survival was similar with transplants an
d chemotherapy (48% (43-53%) vs 42% (33-51%); P=0.24). Five-year LFS p
robability was higher for transplants than chemotherapy (46% (42-50%)
vs 35% (28-41%); P=0.01). These data indicate that bone marrow transpl
ants from HLA-identical siblings result in comparable survival but gre
ater LFS than chemotherapy in adults with AML in first remission.