Combination of disease burden before allogeneic transplantation and early post-transplant minimal residual disease predicts survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The burden disease before allogeneic transplantation (HSCT) or the early post-transplant minimal residual disease (MRD) are both predictive parameters for relapse and post-HSCT survival in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Nonetheless, the combination of both can provide more accurate information to identify high risk patients. To analyze the impact of pre-HSCT disease burden (MRD- vs. MRD + vs. active disease (AD), the early post-transplant MRD (posMRD + vs. posMRD-), and the combination of both pre- and post-HSCT disease status of the post-HSCT outcomes in AML patients. We retrospectively analyzed 173 patients with AML who underwent HSCT in a single institution, patients were classified according to pre-HSCT disease status, and post-HSCT MRD. MRD was measured by multiparameter flow cytometry using a cut-off of 0.1% for MRD+. The post-HSCT outcomes were analyzed based on the pre-transplant status, post-transplant status, and by combining both parameters. Patients with AD and MRD + before HSCT had worse 3y-event free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) than MRD- patients, due to a higher cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR). Also, patients with posMRD + had worse outcomes than posMRD- group. In the combined analysis, patient with MRD-/posMRD- had the best EFS and OS (3y-EFS 66.5%, 3y-OS 70.0%). Patients with MRD+/posMRD- have worse prognosis (3y-EFS 39.0%, 3y-OS 54.0%) and specially the group with AD/MRD- (3y-EFS 13.5%, 3y-OS 22.0%) and posMRD + regardless pre-HSCT disease status(3y-EFS 26.5%, 3y-OS 28.0%) had dismal OS and EFS. The combination of pre-HSCT disease burden and post-HSCT MRD measurements help us for identifying high-risk subgroups. Any level of pre-transplant disease (MRD+, and especially patients with active AD) is a risk factor, even when MRD- was achieved post-transplant. Patients with post-transplant MRD + also had an adverse prognosis. These should be target groups for implementing tailored pre- and post-transplant strategies to improve outcomes.