Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) represents the best therapeutic option for many patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, relapse remains the main cause of mortality after transplantation. The detection of measurable residual disease (MRD) by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) in AML, before and after HSCT, has been described as a powerful predictor of outcome. Nevertheless, multicenter and standardized studies are lacking. A retrospective analysis was performed, including 295 AML patients undergoing HSCT in 4 centers that worked according to recommendations from the Euroflow consortium. Among patients in complete remission (CR), MRD levels prior to transplantation significantly influenced outcomes, with overall (OS) and leukemia free survival (LFS) at 2 years of 76.7% and 67.6% for MRD-negative patients, 68.5% and 49.7% for MRD-low patients (MRD < 0.1), and 50.5% and 36.6% for MRD-high patients (MRD ≥ 0.1) (p < 0.001), respectively. MRD level did influence the outcome, irrespective of the conditioning regimen. In our patient cohort, positive MRD on day +100 after transplantation was associated with an extremely poor prognosis, with a cumulative incidence of relapse of 93.3%. In conclusion, our multicenter study confirms the prognostic value of MRD performed in accordance with standardized recommendations.
Severe hemorrhagic events occur in a significant fraction of acute promyelocytic leukemia patients, either at presentation and/or early after starting therapy, leading to treatment failure and early deaths. However, identification of independent predictors for high-risk of severe bleeding at diagnosis, remains a challenge. Here, we investigated the immunophenotype of bone marrow leukemic cells from 109 newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia patients, particularly focusing on the identification of basophil-related features, and their potential association with severe bleeding episodes and patient overall survival.From all phenotypes investigated on leukemic cells, expression of the CD203c and/or CD22 basophil-associated markers showed the strongest association with the occurrence and severity of bleeding (p ≤ 0.007); moreover, aberrant expression of CD7, coexpression of CD34/CD7 and lack of CD71 was also more frequently found among patients with (mild and severe) bleeding at baseline and/or after starting treatment (p ≤ 0.009). Multivariate analysis showed that CD203c expression (hazard ratio: 26.4; p = 0.003) and older age (hazard ratio: 5.4; p = 0.03) were the best independent predictors for cumulative incidence of severe bleeding after starting therapy. In addition, CD203c expression on leukemic cells (hazard ratio: 4.4; p = 0.01), low fibrinogen levels (hazard ratio: 8.8; p = 0.001), older age (hazard ratio: 9.0; p = 0.002), and high leukocyte count (hazard ratio: 5.6; p = 0.02) were the most informative independent predictors for overall survival.In summary, our results show that the presence of basophil-associated phenotypic characteristics on leukemic cells from acute promyelocytic leukemia patients at diagnosis is a powerful independent predictor for severe bleeding and overall survival, which might contribute in the future to (early) risk-adapted therapy decisions.
Background: Background:MDS/MPN (myelodysplastic syndrome/myeloproliferative neoplasm) overlap syndromes are myeloid malignancies for which allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) is potentially curative in the absence of diseasemodifying therapies.
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