Aging, acute myelogenous leukemia, and allogeneic transplantation: do they belong in the same sentence?

Acute myelogenous leukemia is a disease of the elderly. Disease biology and functional status of this patient population contribute to poorer treatment outcomes with standard therapy. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is associated with an immunologic "graft-versus-tumor" effect. However, transplantation was restricted until recently to younger patients because of prohibitive treatment-related mortality. The development of reduced-intensity preparative regimens and improvements in supportive care now allow older patients with myeloid leukemia a greater opportunity for cure with transplantation. Donor availability, graft-versus-host disease, delayed immune recovery, and the high prevalence of relapsed or refractory disease remain important obstacles to be overcome in the future. Herein, we review the current literature on transplantation for older patients with this myeloid malignancy.