Monday, December 1, 2008 - 2:04PM EST

Treatment Options for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Stem Cell Transplantation for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia or core-binding factor AML are so unlikely to relapse with chemotherapy alone that the risk of stem cell transplantation in first complete remission is difficult to justify. In contrast, very young patients (less than age 18) have such a low-risk of transplant-related mortality that an allogeneic stem cell transplant in first complete remission is very reasonable. For the remaining (the majority) of patients, the outcome is dictated more by the characteristics of the AML (e.g. the cytogenetics) rather than by the treatment. Thus, there is considerable need for developing new approaches to stem cell transplantation as well as for chemotherapy. One new approach is called a "mini- transplant", also known as a non-myeloablative transplant or reduced-intensity transplant. The doses of chemotherapy used for a "mini-transplant" are significantly lower than with a standard allogeneic stem cell transplant, with reliance placed on the ability of the graft to kill AML cells ("graft-vs-leukemia"). Consequent to the reduction in dose, a "mini-transplant" is feasible in patients who have been considered ill-suited for a standard allogeneic transplant either because of advanced age (60 years or older) or other underlying problems such as ongoing infection. Whether the reduction in toxicity associated with a "mini-transplant" will result in a corresponding reduction in efficacy for the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia is unknown at this time.

Pages: 1 2