Increasing risk of relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplant for adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia in > or = 2nd complete remission induced by highly intensive chemotherapy.

From this retrospective single center analysis adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia transplanted in > or 2nd CR from an HLA-identical sibling later than 1993 had a worse outcome. As the transplanted-related mortality improved by time,this result was essentially due to the increased relapse rate. The intensity of the pre-transplant salvage chemotherapy was identified as the main factor influencing the post-transplant relapse-risk.