Infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia with MLL gene rearrangements: outcome following intensive chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Forty-four infants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) characterized by MLL gene rearrangements were treated on a protocol of intensive chemotherapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) between November 1998 and June 2002. The remission induction rate was 91.0%, and the 3-year overall survival and event-free survival (EFS) rates, with 95% confidence intervals, were 58.2% (43.5%-72.9%) and 43.6% (28.5%-58.7%), respectively. Univariate analysis of EFS by presenting features indicated a poorer outcome in patients younger than 6 months of age with high white blood cell counts (>/= 100 x 10(9)/L; EFS rate, 9.4% versus 55.1% for all others, P = .0036) and in those with central nervous system invasion (EFS rate, 10.0% versus 56.9% for all others, P = .0073). The 3-year posttransplantation EFS rate for the 29 patients who underwent HSCT in first remission was 64.4% (46.4%-82.4%). In this subgroup, only the timing of HSCT (first remission versus others) was a significant risk factor by multivariate analysis (P < .0001). These results suggest that early introduction of HSCT, possibly with a less toxic conditioning regimen, may improve the prognosis for infants with MLL(+) ALL. Identification of subgroups or patients who respond well to intensified chemotherapy alone should have a high priority in future investigations.