A RECENT study, presented recently at the 2025 EBMT Annual Meeting, has shown that maintenance therapy with hypomethylating agents (HMA) significantly improves transplant outcomes for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) following allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). This abstract was recognised as one of the ‘Best Young Abstract Awards’ for outstanding poster presentations.
Conducted across eight hospitals from January 2017 to April 2023, the study included 469 patients who were split into two groups: one receiving HMA maintenance (MT group, n=136) and the other not (NMT group, n=333). The research, which aligns with updates from the European LeukaemiaNet (ELN) 2022 guidelines, explored the potential of HMA maintenance to prevent relapse in adverse-risk AML patients. These guidelines emphasised the need for further evidence on the treatment’s efficacy, particularly in patients with adverse genetic profiles.
Results revealed that patients in the MT group showed significantly better post-transplant outcomes compared to the NMT group, with the most notable improvement seen in those with MR gene mutations, which are linked to a poorer prognosis in AML. For instance, after a median follow-up of 28.2 months the 3-year probabilities of event-free survival (EFS), relapse, relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) after allo-HSCT were 67.9% versus 52.1%, 20.0% versus 24.4%, 69.9% versus 58.8%, and 75.4% versus 67.5%, respectively in the HMA maintenance group versus the non-HMA maintenance group.
This study supports the use of HMA maintenance therapy in high-risk AML patients after transplant, suggesting it may offer a promising approach to improving long-term survival. However, the authors stress the importance of additional research to confirm these findings and optimise treatment strategies for AML patients.
Reference
Huang J et al. Abstract: A001. Presented at EBMT 2025 Annual Meeting; Mar 31-2 April; Florence, Italy.
