Summary:Marrow-ablative chemo-radiotherapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell rescue from an allogeneic source improves outcomes for children with high-risk acute leukemia. The first effective pre-transplant preparative regimens consisted of high-dose cyclophosphamide (CY) and total body irradiation (TBI). Subsequent attempts have been made to improve leukemia-free survival, by adding other chemotherapy agents to these agents. In previous clinical studies of total body irradiation, etoposide, cyclophosphamide (TBI-VP-16-Cy) in adult allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, there has been a high incidence of severe regimen-related toxicity. In this study, we investigated the safety and efficacy of this combination in 41 children who received TBI (12-14 Gy), VP-16 (30 mg/kg), and CY (60 mg/kg × 2) and then either matched sibling or alternative donor transplants for acute leukemia. There was only one case of fatal regimen-related toxicity. The estimated 3-year event-free survival for patients with early or intermediate stage disease was 68% (53-88%). The estimated event-free survival of patients with advanced disease was 17% (5-59%). TBI-VP16-CY is safe in pediatric transplantation, and it has good efficacy for transplant recipients with less advanced disease. outcomes for both adults and children by augmenting the anti-leukemic activity of this combination. Increasing the TBI dose led to decreased relapse rates, but this was offset by increased treatment-related mortality. 3 Alternatively, many investigators sought improved preparative regimen efficacy, by incorporating supplemental chemotherapy agents such as busulphan, 4 cytarabine, 5 or etoposide. [6][7][8] Previous clinical studies of one of these novel regimens, total body irradiation, etoposide and cyclophosphamide combined with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for adults with acute leukemia have yielded mixed results. [6][7][8] To assess the safety and efficacy of this combination in pediatric patients, we evaluated the outcomes of 41 children and adolescents who received allogeneic bone marrow transplants for acute leukemia after total body irradiation, etoposide and cyclophosphamide. Patients and methods EligibilityThe pediatric bone marrow recipients included in this analysis were treated between September 1990 and October 1998 at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Patients were followed until 1 April 1999. During this time, all patients between the ages of 1 and 19 years who were receiving their first sibling or unrelated donor bone marrow transplant, and had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (FAB classification 1 or 2) or acute undifferentiated leukemia, were treated with this regimen. Patients with AML in undelayed first remission with matched sibling donors were treated on Pediatric Oncology Group protocols and not included in this analysis. All other pediatric patients who received allogeneic bone marrow transplants for AML were treated with this regimen. Two patients receiving second transplants received this preparative regimen; differen...

Summary:The impact of peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) on survival relative to bone marrow transplantation (BMT) remains poorly defined. Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing HLA-matched related PBSC-and BMT for patients with hematologic malignancies have been published, yielding differing results. We conducted a meta-analysis of published RCTs to more precisely estimate the effect of PBSCT on survival. Seven trials that assessed survival were identified and included in our analysis. Using a fixed effects model, and combining the results of all seven trials, the summary odds ratio for mortality after PBSCT was 0.81 (95% CI, 0.62-1.05) when compared to BMT. Subgroup analysis revealed no association between the median PBSCT 34+ cell dose and relative risk for morality after PBSCT. However, there was an association between the proportion of patients enrolled with advanced-stage disease and the summary odds ratio for mortality. The pooled estimate was 0.64 for studies where patients with intermediate/ advanced disease comprised at least 25% of enrollment, and was 1.07 for the studies enrolling a smaller proportion. This finding substantiates results from previously published studies that have demonstrated a survival advantage with PBSCT limited to patients with advanced disease.

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