Which Stem-Cell Source for Unrelated Donor Transplantation?

Peripheral-blood and bone-marrow stem cells resulted in equivalent survival for patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies.

The lack of a related donor for many patients with high-risk or relapsed leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes necessitates the use of a matched unrelated donor selected from the National Marrow Donor Registry. To compare the use of peripheral-blood (PB) or bone-marrow (BM) stem cells in this setting, investigators conducted a multicenter, randomized, phase III trial in which 551 patients (age, <66) planning to undergo transplantation for acute leukemia, myelodysplasia, chronic myeloid or myelomonocytic leukemia, or myelofibrosis received either PB or BM unrelated donor cells following high-dose chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. The conditioning regimen and the planned posttransplant immunosuppressive regimen were selected prior to randomi…

Reviewing Author

Michael E. Williams, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardAbbVie; AstraZeneca; Beigene; Janssen; Pharmacyclics

Grant/Research SupportJanssen

Editorial BoardsAmerican Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Hematology Longitudinal Knowledge Approval Committee

Michael E. Williams, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardAbbVie; AstraZeneca; Beigene; Janssen; Pharmacyclics

Grant/Research SupportJanssen

Editorial BoardsAmerican Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Hematology Longitudinal Knowledge Approval Committee