BSH/ISH 2016 | Allogeneic transplant for older AML patients – who, when and how

Charles Craddock, CBE, FRCP, FRCPath, DPhil, from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK provides an overview of his talk on allogeneic stem cell transplantation in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) held at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the British Society of Haematology (BSH) and International Society of Hematology (ISH) in Glasgow, Scotland. According to Prof Craddock, the focus was on the recent finding that reduced intensity transplants improve overall survival (OS) and the importance of patient co-morbidities. A substantial number of patients over the age 60 are at risk of relapse if they are treated with chemotherapy alone, according to Prof Craddock. The second half of the talk focused on how to improve outcomes after transplantation. Prof Craddock discusses the Figaro trial (ISRCTN50855000), a randomized trial on conditioning regimens in older patients, administering drugs after an allogeneic transplant with the aim of delaying relapse and also the use of drugs such as azacitidine to augment a graft-versus-tumor effect.