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. 2010 May;51(5):778-82.
doi: 10.3109/10428191003661852.

Late relapses in acute myeloid leukemia: analysis of characteristics and outcome

Dushyant Verma  1 , Hagop Kantarjian, Stefan Faderl, Susan O'Brien, Sherry Pierce, Khanh Vu, Emil Freireich, Michael Keating, Jorge Cortes, Farhad Ravandi
Affiliations

Late relapses in acute myeloid leukemia: analysis of characteristics and outcome

Dushyant Verma et al. Leuk Lymphoma. 2010 May.

Abstract

Relapse after 5 years of complete remission (CR) is uncommon in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Among 2347 patients seen between 1980 and 2008, 1366 achieved CR; 942 relapsed. Eleven (1.16% of all relapses) relapsed after a CR of >5 years. The median age was 66 years (range, 37-79). Initial therapy was cytarabine plus anthracycline in six, amsacrine-based in three, and other in two. The median CR1 duration was 81 months (range, 60-137). At relapse, the karyotype was different from the initial finding in five of eight (63%) patients with available data. Treatment for relapse included cytarabine with anthracycline in eight, and other in three patients, with a second CR (CR2) achieved in four (36%). The median CR2 duration was 1 month (range, 0-37), and median survival after relapse was 6.4 months (range, 1-39). Late relapses in AML are infrequent, with poor response to therapy. Karyotype at relapse is frequently different, raising the question of second AML versus relapse with the original clone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Survival of patients after late relapse of acute myeloid leukaemia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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