Peripheral-Blood Stem Cells versus Bone Marrow from Unrelated Donors NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Anasetti, C., Logan, B. R., Lee, S. J., Waller, E. K., Weisdorf, D. J., Wingard, J. R., Cutler, C. S., Westervelt, P., Woolfrey, A., Couban, S., Ehninger, G., Johnston, L., Maziarz, R. T., Pulsipher, M. A., Porter, D. L., Mineishi, S., McCarty, J. M., Khan, S. P., Anderlini, P., Bensinger, W. I., Leitman, S. F., Rowley, S. D., Bredeson, C., Carter, S. L., Horowitz, M. M., Confer, D. L. 2012; 367 (16): 1487-1496

Abstract

Randomized trials have shown that the transplantation of filgrastim-mobilized peripheral-blood stem cells from HLA-identical siblings accelerates engraftment but increases the risks of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), as compared with the transplantation of bone marrow. Some studies have also shown that peripheral-blood stem cells are associated with a decreased rate of relapse and improved survival among recipients with high-risk leukemia.We conducted a phase 3, multicenter, randomized trial of transplantation of peripheral-blood stem cells versus bone marrow from unrelated donors to compare 2-year survival probabilities with the use of an intention-to-treat analysis. Between March 2004 and September 2009, we enrolled 551 patients at 48 centers. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to peripheral-blood stem-cell or bone marrow transplantation, stratified according to transplantation center and disease risk. The median follow-up of surviving patients was 36 months (interquartile range, 30 to 37).The overall survival rate at 2 years in the peripheral-blood group was 51% (95% confidence interval [CI], 45 to 57), as compared with 46% (95% CI, 40 to 52) in the bone marrow group (P=0.29), with an absolute difference of 5 percentage points (95% CI, -3 to 14). The overall incidence of graft failure in the peripheral-blood group was 3% (95% CI, 1 to 5), versus 9% (95% CI, 6 to 13) in the bone marrow group (P=0.002). The incidence of chronic GVHD at 2 years in the peripheral-blood group was 53% (95% CI, 45 to 61), as compared with 41% (95% CI, 34 to 48) in the bone marrow group (P=0.01). There were no significant between-group differences in the incidence of acute GVHD or relapse.We did not detect significant survival differences between peripheral-blood stem-cell and bone marrow transplantation from unrelated donors. Exploratory analyses of secondary end points indicated that peripheral-blood stem cells may reduce the risk of graft failure, whereas bone marrow may reduce the risk of chronic GVHD. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-National Cancer Institute and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00075816.).

View details for DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa1203517

View details for Web of Science ID 000309904500006

View details for PubMedID 23075175