Augmented hyper-CVAD based on dose-intensified vincristine, dexamethasone, and asparaginase in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia salvage therapy

The prognosis of adult patients with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remains poor. Recent studies in adolescents and young adults reported better outcomes when therapy was intensified. Based on hyper-CVAD (cyclophosphamide/vincristine/doxorubicin/dexamethasone) as a backbone, we designed an augmented version with intensified doses of vincristine, dexamethasone, and asparaginase (L-asparaginase in the first 62 patients and pegaspargase in the remainder) starting from course 1. Ninety patients have been enrolled, with a median age of 34 years (range, 14-70 years). Most patients (78%) had pre-B ALL and were in first salvage (76%), with a first remission duration of 12.6 months (range, 1-78 months). Ten patients had primary refractory disease. Of 88 evaluable patients, 41 (47%) achieved complete remission (CR), with a median time to CR of 29 days (range, 18-80 days). Eight patients (9%) died within the first 30 days. Median CR duration, progression-free survival, and overall survival were 5, 6.2, and 6 months, respectively. Median overall survival of CR patients was 10.2 months (range, 1.4-69.5+ months). Twenty-eight patients (32%) proceeded to stem cell transplantation. Myelosuppression-associated complications were frequent. Pegaspargase was equally effective and easier to administer than L-asparaginase. Augmented hyper-CVAD may be suitable to be studied in younger adults with untreated ALL.