Ph+ ALL patients in first complete remission have similar survival after reduced intensity and myeloablative allogeneic transplantation: impact of tyrosine kinase inhibitor and minimal residual disease

The efficacy of reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is uncertain. We analyzed 197 adults with Ph+ ALL in first complete remission; 67 patients receiving RIC were matched with 130 receiving myeloablative conditioning (MAC) for age, donor type and HCT year. Over 75% received pre-HCT tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), mostly imatinib; 39% (RIC) and 49% (MAC) were minimal residual disease (MRD) neg pre-HCT. At a median 4.5 years follow-up, 1-year transplant-related mortality (TRM) was lower in RIC (13%) than MAC (36%; P =0.001) while the 3-year relapse rate was 49% in RIC and 28% in MAC ( P =0.058). Overall survival (OS) was similar (RIC 39% (95% confidence interval (CI) 27–52) vs 35% (95% CI 27–44); P =0.62). Patients MRD pos pre-HCT had higher risk of relapse with RIC vs MAC (hazard ratio (HR) 1.97; P =0.026). However, patients receiving pre-HCT TKI in combination with MRD negativity pre-RIC HCT had superior OS (55%) compared with a similar MRD population after MAC (33%; P =0.0042). In multivariate analysis, RIC lowered TRM (HR 0.6; P =0.057), but absence of pre-HCT TKI (HR 1.88; P =0.018), RIC (HR 1.891; P =0.054) and pre-HCT MRD pos (HR 1.6; P =0.070) increased relapse risk. RIC is a valid alternative strategy for Ph+ ALL patients ineligible for MAC and MRD neg status is preferred pre-HCT.