Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as part of postremission therapy improves survival for adult patients with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a metaanalysis.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis for adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remains unsatisfactory primarily because of the high incidence of recurrence. Therefore, optimal postremission therapy is a matter of vital concern. In particular, the clinical efficacy of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) should be clarified.
METHODS: Rigorous criteria were used to select 7 studies of adult ALL that prospectively assessed overall survival (OS) using natural randomization based on donor availability combined with intention-to-treat analyses. The authors then performed a metaanalysis to evaluate the role of allogeneic HSCT.
RESULTS: Seven studies that included 1274 patients were selected. A metaanalysis demonstrated that patients in the donor groups had significantly better survival than patients in the no-donor groups (hazard ratio [HR], 1.29; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.02-1.63 [P = .037]). When only high-risk patients were included in the analysis, the superiority of the survival advantage was even greater (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.06-1.90 [P = .019]). A meta-regression analysis revealed that compliance with allogeneic HSCT showed a significant and positive correlation with survival (coefficient, 0.022; P < .01), suggesting that the greater the proportion of patients who actually received allogeneic HSCT, the better the survival of the donor group. No beneficial effects of autologous HSCT were observed.
CONCLUSIONS: The current findings demonstrated that allogeneic HSCT improves the outcome of adult patients with high-risk ALL. Although these analyses were based on abstracted data, the results indicated that allogeneic HSCT should be considered for such patients if a suitable donor is available. Copyright 2006 American Cancer Society.