Intensified conditioning containing decitabine versus standard myeloablative conditioning for adult patients with KMT2A-rearranged leukemia: a multicenter retrospective study

Abstract Background Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is recommended for patients with KMT2A-rearranged (KMT2A-r) leukemia whereas relapse remains high. We aimed to determine whether intensified conditioning containing decitabine (Dec) could reduce relapse compared with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhongli Hu, Zinan Feng, Shiqi Liu, Hai He, Ying Dong, Zhiping Fan, Yiqing Li, Fen Huang, Na Xu, Can Liu, Yunxin Zeng, Ping Zhu, Ren Lin, Hua Jin, Xiong Zhang, Ruijuan Sun, Qifa Liu, Li Xuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-12-01
Series:BMC Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03830-0
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Background Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is recommended for patients with KMT2A-rearranged (KMT2A-r) leukemia whereas relapse remains high. We aimed to determine whether intensified conditioning containing decitabine (Dec) could reduce relapse compared with standard myeloablative conditioning in adult patients with KMT2A-r leukemia. Methods We performed a multicenter retrospective study at seven institutions in China. Eligible patients were aged 14 years or older at transplantation, had a diagnosis of KMT2A-r leukemia, and underwent the first allo-HSCT. Standard myeloablative conditioning regimens (standard group) included BuCy (busulfan 3.2 mg/kg/day on days -7 to -4; cyclophosphamide 60 mg/kg/day on days -3 to -2) and TBI-Cy (total body irradiation 4.5 Gy/day on days -5 to -4; Cy 60 mg/kg/day on days -3 to -2). Intensified conditioning regimens containing Dec (intensified group) consisted of Dec-BuCy (Dec 20 mg/m2/day on days -14 to -10; the same dose of BuCy) and Dec-TBI-Cy (Dec 20 mg/m2/day on days -10 to -6; the same dose of TBI-Cy). Results Between April 2009 and December 2019, 218 patients were included in this study, of whom 105 were in the intensified group and 113 were in the standard group. The 3-year cumulative incidence of relapse was 17.6% and 34.5%, overall survival was 71.3% and 61.0%, disease-free survival was 70.1% and 56.0%, and non-relapse mortality was 12.3% and 9.5% in the intensified and standard groups, respectively (P = 0.001; P = 0.034; P = 0.005; P = 0.629). Subgroup analysis showed that the relapse rate of intensified conditioning was lower than that of standard conditioning in multiple subgroups, including different leukemia types, disease status at transplantation, high-risk cytogenetics and Bu-based regimens. There was no difference in regimen-related toxicity, engraftment, or graft-versus-host disease between the intensified and standard groups. Conclusions These results suggest that intensified conditioning containing Dec might be a better strategy than standard myeloablative conditioning for adult patients with KMT2A-r leukemia undergoing allo-HSCT.
ISSN:1741-7015