TY - JOUR A1 - Koschade-Rixner, Sebastian E. A1 - Stratmann, Jan Alexander A1 - Finkelmeier, Fabian A1 - Wagner, Sebastian A1 - Chromik, Jörg A1 - Steffen, Björn A1 - Serve, Hubert A1 - Brandts, Christian Hubertus A1 - Ballo, Olivier Karl Friedrich T1 - Relapse surveillance of acute myeloid leukemia patients in first remission after consolidation chemotherapy: diagnostic value of regular bone marrow aspirations T2 - Annals of hematology N2 - The optimal follow-up care for relapse detection in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients in first remission after consolidation therapy with intensive chemotherapy is not established. In this retrospective study, we evaluate the diagnostic value of an intensive relapse surveillance strategy by regular bone marrow aspirations (BMA) in these patients. We identified 86 patients with newly diagnosed non-promyelocytic AML who had reached complete remission (CR) after intensive induction and consolidation chemotherapy between 2007 and 2019. Annual relapse rates were 40%, 17%, and 2% in years 1–3, respectively. Patients in CR were surveilled by BMA scheduled every 3 months for 2 years, followed by BMA every 6 months. This surveillance regimen detected 29 of 55 relapses (53%), 11 of which were molecular relapses (20%). The remaining 26 of 55 relapses (47%) were diagnosed by non-surveillance BMA prompted by specific suspicion of relapse. Most patients showed concurrent morphological abnormalities in peripheral blood (PB) at time of relapse. Seven percent of all morphological relapses occurred without simultaneous PB abnormalities and would have been delayed without surveillance BMA. Intensified monthly PB assessment paired with BMA every 3 months during the first 2 years may be a highly sensitive relapse surveillance strategy. KW - AML KW - Relapse surveillance KW - Bone marrow aspiration KW - Peripheral blood smears KW - CBC Y1 - 2022 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/69485 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-694853 SN - 1432-0584 N1 - Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. VL - 101 IS - 8 SP - 1703 EP - 1710 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ; Heidelberg ; New York ER -