Reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic transplant in heavily pre-treated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients: a single centre experience

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is a lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by a heterogeneous clinical course that can be predicted by an array of new biological prognostic parameters 1–4. Despite recent therapeutic advances (mainly based on the combination of immuno and chemotherapy) the only curative option, especially for high-risk CLL patients, is represented by allogeneic transplantation 5, 6. However, overall mortality in allotransplanted CLL patients who undergo myeloablative conditioning regimens ranges between 30 and 60% 7, 8. In an effort to reduce the high transplant-related-mortality (TRM) of these patients, several groups have investigated the feasibility and efficacy of non-myeloablative transplantation in this setting 9, 10. The largest study conducted so far confirmed the benefit of reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) transplant in high-risk patients 11.