A retrospective comparison of autologous and unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation in myelodysplastic syndrome and secondary acute myeloid leukemia: a report on behalf of the Chronic Leukemia Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is an effective treatment for myelodysplasia (MDS) and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML). In this study, outcome of 593 patients with MDS/sAML after autologous and allogeneic HCT from a matched unrelated donor (MUD) were compared. A total of 167 (28%) patients received HCT from MUD without prior chemotherapy (MUD-U). The rest received HCT in first complete remission (CR1) (Autologous (Auto-CR1), n=290 (49%), HCT from MUD (MUD-CR1), n=136 (23%)). Survival at 3 years was best in MUD-CR1 (50%) compared to Auto-CR1 (41%) and MUD-U (40%) (P=0.01). Similarly, disease-free survival was 44% for MUD-CR1 compared to Auto-CR1 (28%) and MUD-U (34%) (P=0.03). Treatment-related mortality was 17% in Auto-CR1 compared to MUD-CR1 (38%) and MUD-U (49%) (P 40 years were similar. Autologous and Allogeneic HCT from MUD offer the possibility of long-term survival to patients with MDS/sAML.