Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in first remission adult acute myeloid leukaemia--an intention to treat analysis and comparison of outcome using a predictive model based on the MRC AML10 cohort.

The role of autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) remains controversial. The current study evaluated the application of APBSCT in a large consecutive series of patients with untreated AML, and compared outcome with a predictive model based on MRC AML10 data. Of 148 evaluable patients, 118 patients entered complete remission (CR) after induction therapy comprising three cycles of daunorubicin, cytosine arabinoside and oral 6-thioguanine. Of these patients, 68 (57%) proceeded to consolidation therapy with two courses of intermediate dose cytosine arabinoside, and stem cell mobilisation, and 40 of these patients (34%) underwent the APBSCT procedure after high dose busulphan conditioning. Harvest quality was the main factor precluding APBSCT. Five-year event-free survival (EFS) in patients who achieved CR was 38% and in APBSCT patients was 57%. There were no transplant-related deaths. No significant differences were demonstrated between observed and expected outcomes at 1 and 2 years, based on the predictive model derived from the MRC AML10 study. These data therefore indicate that only a third of eligible adult patients will undergo APBSCT. However, the results demonstrate favourable survival in such patients, with no transplant-related mortality.