The combination of cyclosporine, methotrexate, and prednisone was more effective in preventing acute GVHD of grades II to IV than was the combination of cyclosporine and prednisone without methotrexate.

Between 1984 and 1997, 23 consecutive patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first complete remission were treated with allogeneic bone marrow transplants from HLA-matched siblings. All patients but one were conditioned with fractionated total body irradiation (1320 cGy) and high-dose etoposide (60 mg/kg). One patient received high-dose cyclophosphamide instead of etoposide, and another patient received both drugs. Nine patients died following BMT, two from relapsed leukemia, and seven from transplant-related causes. The 3-year probabilities of disease-free survival and relapse are 65% and 12%, respectively. For patients transplanted after 1992, these probabilities are 81% (48-95%, 95% confidence interval) and 11% (2-50%), respectively. The relatively low relapse rate in this group of patients compared to published reports may reflect the enhanced antileukemic activity of etoposide in combination with FTBI compared to other conditioning regimens. The enhancement in overall survival for patients transplanted after 1992 may reflect improvements in supportive care, in particular, the prophylaxis of serious fungal and viral infections.

To determine the quality of life in adult patients after autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT), we administered a questionnaire to a cohort of patients seen at a single referral-based center. The sample included adults 18 years and older during the 1 year following an autologous BMT. Both disease-free patients and those who relapsed with 1-year of follow-up data available were included. Of 59 eligible patients, 58 (98%) responded to the questionnaire. Patients completed a telephone questionnaire administered by a nurse specialist in the field of BMT approximately every 90 days. At the time of initial contact on day +90, the mean quality of life was 7.8 (range, 1 to 10) on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. By the end of the first year of follow-up, the mean quality of life was 8.9 (range, 3 to 10). Seventy- eight percent of the patients were employed. Twenty-one percent lost weight during the first year, with the majority reporting voluntary weight loss. Fourteen percent reported difficulties with sexual activity. Only 5% reported difficulty with sleeping or with frequent colds. One patient felt that her appearance was worse, and none of the patients reported a poor appetite. Eighty-eight percent of surviving adult patients reported an above-average to excellent quality of life 1 year following autologous BMT. This outcome is encouraging and suggests that this procedure is not associated with long-term morbidity in the surviving adult patient.