Symptomatic Patients with Hyperleukocytic FLT3-ITD Mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia Might Benefit from Leukapheresis

Abstract

Purpose: We aimed to identify subsets of patients who benefit from emergency LA and to establish a therapeutic algorithm for AML patients with hyperleukocytosis. Methods: In this single-center retrospective cohort study, a total of 20 consecutive patients underwent LA because of their clinical symptoms. Overall survival (OS) analysis was conducted using the Kaplan–Meier plot method. Univariate and multivariate analyses (using multiple logistic regression) were performed. At the time of diagnosis, all patients received a standard diagnostic workup for AML including FLT3-ITD mutational analysis. Results: FLT3-ITD mut AML patients receiving LA had a median OS of 437 days (range 5–2379 days) with a corresponding 14-day survival of 92.3%, while FLT3 wt AML patients displayed a significantly lower median OS of only 5 days (range 1–203 days) with a corresponding 14-day survival of 14.3% (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Among patients with clinical symptoms of leukostasis, the subset of FLT3-ITD mut AML patients showed a better outcome with lower early mortality after emergency LA. Based on these observations, we established a therapeutic algorithm for AML patients with hyperleukocytosis.