Prolonged Survival of a Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patient after a Third Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation with Umbilical Cord Blood following a Second Relapse

Although hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been considered to be the only way for potential cure of relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML), there has been no report on a third HSCT in patients with multiple relapsed AML. Here, we report a case of 53-year-old female who received a successful third allogeneic HSCT after relapse of AML following a second allogeneic HSCT. She was treated with a toxicity reduced conditioning regimen and received direct intrabone cord blood transplantation (CBT) using a single unit of 5/6 HLA-matched cord blood as a graft source. Graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis was performed with a single agent of tacrolimus to increase graft-versus-leukemia effect. She is in remission for 8 months since the direct intrabone CBT. This report highlights not only the importance of individually adjusted approach but also the need for further investigation on the role of HSCT as a treatment modality in patients with refractory or multiple relapsed AML.