Background: High-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) is considered standard of care for

NCT01107639.

BackgroundTo analyze the impact of weight loss before and during chemoradiation on survival outcomes in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.MethodsFrom 07/1994-07/2000 a total of 224 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were randomized to either hyperfractionated radiation therapy alone or the same radiation therapy combined with two cycles of concomitant cisplatin. The primary endpoint was time to any treatment failure (TTF); secondary endpoints were locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS). Patient weight was measured 6 months before treatment, at treatment start and treatment end.ResultsThe proportion of patients with >5% weight loss was 32% before, and 51% during treatment, and the proportion of patients with >10% weight loss was 12% before, and 17% during treatment. After a median follow-up of 9.5 years (range, 0.1 – 15.4 years) weight loss before treatment was associated with decreased TTF, LRRFS, DMFS, cancer specific survival and OS in a multivariable analysis. However, weight loss during treatment was not associated with survival outcomes.ConclusionsWeight loss before and during chemoradiation was commonly observed. Weight loss before but not during treatment was associated with worse survival.

Summary. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo‐SCT) after reduced‐intensity conditioning was evaluated in 22 patients (median age 53, range 36–66 years) with multiple myeloma with progression after an autologous SCT. Seven patients received a transplant from a human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐identical sibling and 15 patients (68%) from an unrelated donor [including 3/22 (14%) from a HLA‐mismatched unrelated donor]. Graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted of serotherapy with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine (CSA) (n = 12) or CSA plus mycophenolate mofetil (n = 10). Despite of heavy pretreatment, the transplant‐related mortality (TRM) for all grafted patients was acceptable at 5/22 patients (23%). Seven of 21 patients (33%) that were evaluated developed grade II GVHD and one (5%) patient developed grade III/IV acute GVHD. Seven patients developed chronic GVHD (cGVHD), but only one was extensive. Eleven patients died of progressive disease within a median of 7 months (2–19 months) post transplant. Thirteen of all 22 patients (59%) achieved a partial or complete remission with six of these 13 patients (46%) remaining event free at a median of 24 months (range 8–36 months) post allografting. Estimated 2 year overall and event‐free survival was, respectively, 25·5% and 22·0% for the whole patient group, and 62·5% and 57·1% for patients with chemosensitive disease. Chemorefractory disease prior to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (P = 0·0182) and absence of cGVHD (P = 0·069) were associated with shorter event‐free survival. Thus long‐term disease control can be achieved, but is restricted to patients responding to prior salvage chemotherapy.