About 80% of patients with AML will go into remission after chemotherapy treatment. To prevent a relapse, many patients then receive consolidation therapy with allogeneic (meaning cells are taken from a sibling) bone marrow transplantation, autologous (meaning cells are taken from the patient) bone marrow transplantation, or intensive chemotherapy. However, it is unclear which of these is optimal.
Paul C. Nathan, Lillian Sung, M.D., and colleagues from the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, conducted a meta-analysis of six studies to compare the efficacy of autologous bone marrow transplantation with that of non-myeloablative chemotherapy alone or no further treatment. They found that, compared with patients who received chemotherapy or no further treatment, patients who received autologous bone marrow transplantation had a better disease-free survival but a similar overall survival. "Our results do not support the routine use of autologous bone marrow transplantation in adult acute myeloid leukemia patients in first remission," the authors write.
Contact: Laura Greer, Hospital for Sick Children, 416-813-5046, laura.greer@sickkids.ca.
Imatinib Interferes With Growth of Neuroblastoma Cells
The cancer drug imatinib inhibited the growth of neuroblastoma cells in culture and in a mouse model, suggesting that the drug should be tested as a possible tr
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Contact: Katherine Arnold
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
6-Jan-2004