Short-term efficacy of decitabine-based therapy in JMML: a retrospective study from a single center in China

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is an aggressive pediatric myeloproliferative disease, and newly diagnosed patients frequently cannot tolerate hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) at diagnosis due to their poor condition. This retrospective analysis aimed to explore the short-term effect of decitabine-dominant therapy on improving the condition of JMML patients before HSCT. The subjects were 10 JMML patients. All patients were treated with decitabine after low-dose chemotherapy with an interval of 4 weeks before bridging to HSCT. The median treatment course was 3 cycles, and the overall response rate (ORR) was 70.0% after one cycle and 71.4% after three cycles. White blood cell (WBC) and monocyte counts were significantly lower after treatment, and spleen volume was also lower, though not significantly lower. The 12 month progression-free survival rate (PFS) was 80.0 ± 12.6%. Decitabine-dominant therapy was beneficial for reducing tumor burden and improving clinical condition.