Second allogeneic stem cell transplantation in myeloid malignancies

For patients with myeloid malignancies who relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), one salvage option is a second SCT. We retrospectively analyzed outcomes of the second allo-SCT in 25 patients who received at least 2 allografts from related/unrelated donors due to relapse of acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome or myelofibrosis after the first SCT. A minority of the acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome patients had reached complete hematological remission before the second SCT (6/25, 24%). Reduced conditioning strategies were performed in the majority (n = 23). Complete remission was achieved in all 21 cases with available data after the second SCT, but relapse was seen in 11/25 patients (44%). After a median follow-up of 18 months (range 6-47), 8/25 patients (32%) were still alive, and of those, 6 (24%) were in stable remission. In 9 cases mortality was associated to relapse and in 8 cases to transplant-related causes (treatment-related mortality; 8/25, 32%). In conclusion, a second SCT offers the chance of stable remission for some patients relapsing with a myeloid malignancy after a first allo-SCT, although high treatment-related mortality and relapse rates remain a problem. Efforts should concentrate on an optimization of conditioning strategies, immunosuppression and post-transplant surveillance for this specific situation.