Retrospective analysis of treatment outcomes in 70 patients with t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia]

We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate outcomes and prognostic factors of newly diagnosed patients with t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia (AML). There were 70 patients (43 men and 27 women) with a median age of 48 years old (range, 17∼76 years old). Sixty-five patients achieved complete remission (CR) after induction chemotherapy. Fifty-seven patients received consolidation chemotherapy based on the policy of not performing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) at the time of first CR. Twenty-seven of the 57 patients relapsed (relapse rate, 47%). The median time from the achievement of the first CR to relapse was 307 days (96∼1,256 days). A white blood cell count of more than 25,400/μl at diagnosis was associated with a higher relapse rate than a white blood cell count of less than or equal to 25,400/μl (75% vs. 43%, P=0.04). Nineteen of the 25 relapsed patients who received re-induction therapy experienced a second CR (second CR rate, 76%). Twenty-six patients (5 with first CR, 12 with second CR, and 9 without remission) received allo-HSCT. The five-year overall survival and disease-free survival rates were 61% and 45%, respectively. Patients with t(8;21) AML had a high CR rate, but about half of them relapsed. However, this report could not show prognostic factors for the identification of patients who should receive allo-HSCT at the time of their first CR.