An update on the management of severe idiopathic aplastic anaemia in children

The current outlook for a child with severe idiopathic aplastic anaemia (AA) is very much better than in previous decades. In part, this may reflect better differentiation of idiopathic and inherited marrow failure. For children with idiopathic AA and a human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-matched sibling donor (MSD), allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AHSCT) is the primary therapy of choice, offering long-term disease-free survival of 90%, although graft-versus-host disease remains a cause of long-term morbidity. A greater treatment challenge remains for those children without a MSD. Combination immunosuppressive therapy (IST) is associated with response rates of 70% or more. However, relapse and clonal evolution with transformation to myelodysplasia or acute myeloid leukaemia remain significant problems after IST and long-term event-free survival rates are less impressive. For children who do not have a sustained response to IST, alternate donor AHSCT should be considered. New HLA typing technologies, novel stem cell sources, reduced-intensity conditioning and graft engineering have reduced toxicity and improved the outcome after alternate donor AHSCT. Emerging therapies that capitalise on recent advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of idiopathic AA and the immunobiology of AHSCT and IST may further improve the long-term outcome of this disease.