The major obstacle is leukemia relapse for refractory leukemia undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). We previously introduced a strategy of sequential intensified conditioning and early rapid immunosupressant withdrawal for refractory leukemia undergoing allo-HSCT, with 5-year overall survival (OS) and 3-year relapse rate of 44.6% and 33.3%. To reduce leukemia relapse, prophylactic donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) was administered based on our historical strategy. A total of 153 refractory advanced acute leukemia patients were enrolled in this prospective study. According to the availability of donor lymphocytes and the criteria for DLI, 144 patients surviving day +60 were divided into two groups (80 DLI versus 64 non-DLI). The relapse rate was less and OS was better in patients receiving DLI than in those not receiving DLI (22.7% vs 33.9%, P=0.048; 58.1% vs 54.9%, P=0.043). The non-relapse mortality (NRM) was similar between DLI and non-DLI groups (P=0.104). Overall, the 5-year overall and disease-free survival post-transplantation were 51.1%±5.7% and 49.2%±5.3%. The 5-year relapse rate and NRM were 27.3%±4.4% and 29.7%±5.3%. Multivariate analysis revealed that lower bone marrow blasts on day 0, DLI and chronic graft-versus-host disease were associated with less relapse and better OS. The strategy of sequential intensified conditioning followed by early immunosupressant withdrawal and DLI could reduce relapse of refractory acute leukemia after allo-HSCT and improve survival.
Keywords: allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; donor lymphocyte infusion; refractory advanced acute leukemia; relapse; sequential intensified conditioning.