Study compares stem cells, bone marrow
Study compares stem cells, bone marrow
In the largest study ever to compare outcomes of cancer patients transplanted with marrow vs. those transplanted with stem cells, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that for certain patients, stem cells offer clear advantages.
The three-year, multicenter study included 168 patients with a variety of blood cancers. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either marrow or stem-cell transplants. The two-year survival rate for patients in the bone marrow group was 45%, compared with 70% for patients in the stem-cell group.
"The evidence is convincing enough that we’ve already made a change in treating our high-risk patients," explains William Bensinger, MD, a researcher with the Fred Hutchinson Center and lead author of the paper presented at the recent American Society of Hematology meeting. "For patients with accelerated phase cancers who are beyond first remission or have refractory relapses, we are using stem cells."
The results are especially exciting because stem cell transplants are associated with fewer complications, notes Bensinger. "Most strategies aimed at reducing relapse are associated with higher toxicities, more complications, and higher mortality. This data suggests that stem-cell transplants may offer the best of both worlds, fewer relapses with fewer complications."
However, researchers caution that earlier studies suggest that stem-cell patients have higher rates of chronic graft-host disease, which may not occur until three to five years after trans-plant. "We won’t know for another year or two if chronic graft-host disease shows up among these patients," says Bensinger.
More information may be accessed on the center’s Web site at www.fhcrc.org.
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