To assess the role of hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) in adult ALL patients with central nervous system involvement at diagnosis, we retrospectively analyzed 90 patients who underwent autologous HSCT (auto-HSCT group; n=27) or allogeneic HSCT (allo-HSCT group; n=63) and reported to the Société Française de Greffe de Moelle et de Thérapie Cellulaire registry between 1994 and 2008. At the time of transplantation, 67 patients (74%) were in first CR, 15 (17%) in CR2 and 8 (9%) with progressive disease. The 5-year probabilities of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 52% and 46% for the allo-HSCT and 37% and 33% for the auto-HSCT groups, respectively (P=NS). The TRM at 5 years was 29.8% for the allo-HSCT group and 3.7% for the auto-HSCT group. Using univariate analysis, a time for transplantation of <12 months, the remission status at transplantation, the use of high-dose TBI and the number of the transplant were all determined to be prognostic factors for improved DFS and OS probabilities. Using multivariate analysis, we demonstrated that both the use of high-dose TBI and the remission status had a favorable impact on OS. Although the DFS and OS were better in the allo-HSCT group, the differences were not statistically significant.