The favorable prognostic value of the loss of sex chromosomes in patients with t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia: an exploratory study.

Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with t(8;21) is generally associated with a favorable clinical course. Loss of sex chromosome (LOS) are frequently observed in t (8;21) AML, but the prognostic value of LOS remains uncertain.

Methods: A total of 73 patients with AML with t(8;21) were studied and divided into t(8;21) with LOS group ( = 36) and t(8;21) alone group ( = 37). The patients with t(8;21) AML with ACAs other than LOS were excluded. The clinical characteristics of these two groups were compared, and the prognostic value of LOS was evaluated based on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

Results: The clinical characteristics (except for gender) were found to have no significant difference between these two groups, and the male patients tended to account for a larger proportion in the former group ( = .001). The OS of the t(8;21) AML with LOS group was significantly longer than that of the t(8;21) AML alone group ( = .005). While not obvious, the patients with LOS seemed to have longer DFS ( = .061). The multivariable analysis also showed LOS to be an independent favorable prognostic factor of t(8;21) AML ( = .022).

Conclusions: Our results suggested that LOS could be associated with a favorable prognosis in t(8;21) AML patients without other ACAs, and for this subtype of AML, longer DFS and a satisfactory and stable survival can be achieved with high-dose cytarabine (HDAC) consolidation treatment.