Transplants in Adult ALL--? Allo for everyone

The large MRC/ECOG adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) study establishes the value of sibling donor allogeneic transplant in standard-risk patients demonstrating superior outcome to conventional chemotherapy. The small but significant number of patients having matched unrelated donor (MUD) transplants on this study protocol appear to do well, and may establish the value of such an approach for those without a sibling. Reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) conditioning might begin to address the transplant-related mortality problems of the older patients. The youngest adults may not need a transplant at all. If they are now treated on pediatric chemotherapy protocols, their outcome appears to improve significantly. The MRC/ECOG study, the emerging MUD and RIC data all help establish allogeneic transplant more widely in this disease.