The Role of Allogeneic Transplantation in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in 2023: A Case-Based Concise Review

Abstract

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have revolutionized the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), granting patients a life expectancy close to that of the normal population and, in a subset of patients, the possibility to discontinue therapy. Nonetheless, for a not negligible minority of patients, TKIs are not able to control CML. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has long been a pivotal therapy for CML. At present, allogeneic HCT is considered an option in CML patients diagnosed or progressing to blast phase (BP), for those in chronic phase (CP) resistant to multiple lines of TKI therapy or for those experiencing severe toxicity, mostly hematologic, under TKIs. Moving from real-world cases, we reviewed the results of allogeneic HCT in the setting of advanced-phase CML or failure of TKIs, with a focus on the progresses in transplant technology that has extended transplant options in elderly CML patients and in those lacking a sibling donor, and on the post-HCT strategies for prevention and treatment of disease relapse.