CLINICAL NEWS
Long-Term Study Confirms Durable Responses With Reduced-Intensity Conditioning
AlloHCT in High-Risk CLL
Ten-year follow-up data from the prospec-
tive phase II CLL3X trial of the German
CLL Study Group confirms that patients
with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leuke-
mia (CLL) can achieve durable responses
with reduced-intensity conditioning al-
logeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
(alloHCT), according to a report published
in Blood.
Isabel Krämer, from the Department
of Medicine V at the University of Hei-
delberg in Germany, and co-authors also
determined that much of this long-term
benefit could be attributed to the graft-
versus-leukemia (GVL)-mediated clear-
ance of minimal residual disease (MRD).
“Patients who have achieved immune-
induced MRD clearance one year after
alloHCT have an 87 percent probability
of remaining disease-free for at least 10
years,” the authors reported. “Late relapses
do occur, but may benefit from strategies
involving innovative pathway inhibitors.”
The researchers enrolled 100 patients
(median age = 53 years; range = 27-65
years) between June 2001 and March
2007 from 16 sites, and 90 patients
underwent alloHCT with stem cells from