No abstract

Of a group of 149 patients who underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation using the "Mexican approach", a nonablative preparative regimen, 49 individuals developed bone marrow relapse, and 8 patients developed extramedullary relapse (EMR). All EMR cases presented in patients who received allografts for myeloid malignancies. In contrast, bone marrow relapses presented in patients with myeloid or lymphoid malignancies. EMR presented 60 to 1010 days after the allograft and appeared in 3 cases as subcutaneous nodules in different parts of the body, in the vertebrae in 3 cases, and in the kidney and the breast in 1 case each. One patient had both subcutaneous nodules and epididymis EMR. When EMR was noted, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) had presented in 4 patients, and limited forms of chronic GVHD were present in 3 patients. All but 1 of the patients were full chimeras when the EMR ensued, and the EMR preceded an overt hematologic relapse in all but 1 of the patients. Patients who experienced an overt hematologic relapse died 20 to 180 days (median, 40 days) after the EMR. The only individual alive 240 days after relapse shows no evidence of a full-blown hematologic relapse. An EMR after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation usually has a bad prognosis and presents mainly in individuals with high-risk malignancies.

Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation is the therapy of choice for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) patients younger than 70 years old. Between August 1993 and November 2004, 54 patients with MM were autografted after conditioning with high-dose oral melphalan 140 mg/m(2) in combination with etoposide and carmustine (28 patients) or with high-dose melphalan 200 mg/m(2) I.V. (26 patients). The oral and IV melphalan groups were comparable. There were no significant differences in disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) between the groups; however, in patients transplanted in remission, OS and DFS were better in the I.V. melphalan group. Four good-prognostic factors were identified: interval between diagnosis and transplant <18 months, number of prior chemotherapy lines < or =2, remission status (complete or partial), and the use of I.V. melphalan. In conclusion, I.V. melphalan is the therapy of choice for conditioning patients with MM who are in remission.

Summary:Using a reduced-intensity stem cell transplantation (RIST) schedule, 24 patients with Philadelphia (Ph1) ( þ ) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in first chronic phase (CP) were prospectively allografted in four Latin American countries: Me´xico, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, using HLA-identical siblings as donors. The median age of the patients was 41 years (range 10-71 years); there were eight females. Patients received a median of 4.4 Â 10 6 /kg CD34 cells. The median time to achieve above 0.5 Â 10 9 /l granulocytes was 12 days, range 0-41 days, and the median time to achieve above 20 Â 10 9 /l platelets was also 12 days, range 0-45 days. In all, 22 patients are alive 81-830 (median 497) days after RIST. The 830-day probability of survival is 92%, and the median survival has not been reached, being beyond 830 days. A total of 11 patients (46%) developed acute graftversus-host disease (GVHD), and seven of 23 (30%) developed chronic GVHD. Two patients died 43 and 210 days after RIST, one as a result of sepsis and the other of chronic GVHD. The 100-day mortality was 4.4%, and transplant-related mortality was 8%. RIST for patients with CML in CP appears to be an adequate therapeutic option.

Using a reduced intensity stem cell transplantation (RIST) schedule, 24 patients with Ph1 (+) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in first chronic phase were prospectively allografted in four Latin American countries: Mexico, Brasil, Colombia and Venezuela, using HLA-identical siblings as donors. Median age of the patients was 41 years (range 10 to 71); there were 8 females. Patients received a median of 4.4 x 106/ Kg CD34 cells. Median time to achieve above 0.5 x 109/L granulocytes was 12 days, range 0–41, whereas median time to achieve above 20 x 109/L platelets was also 12 days, range 0–45. Twenty two patients are alive 81 to 830 (median 497) days after the RIST. The 830-day probability of survival is 92%, whereas median survival has not been reached, being above 830 days. Eleven patients (46%) developed acute graft versus-host disease (GVHD), whereas 7 of 23 (30%) developed chronic GVHD. Two patients died 43 and 210 days after the RIST, one as a result of sepsis and the other one of chronic GVHD. The 100-day mortality was 4.4 %, whereas the transplant-related mortality was 8%. RIST for patients with CML in chronic phase seems as an adequate therapeutic option.