Allogeneic BMT in patients above 45 years of age: a single center experience.

Increasing age has been reported to be associated with worse outcome and higher occurrence of complication after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. We analysed a cohort of 39 patients between the ages of 45 and 57 (median 49 years) with different hematologic malignancies who had undergone BMT in our institution over the preceding 4 years. Pretransplant conditioning consisted of Bu/CY2, GVHD prophylaxis of a combination of cyclosporine and "short" methotrexate. At present 54% of patients remain alive (with a median follow-up 44 months), the probability of survival at 5 years is 53% (5-year DFS 78%). The 5-year survival probability in the control group of younger patients is 53% (P = 0.8003). Main causes of death were GVHD (4 patients, 10%), relapse (5 patients, 13%) and infection (6 patients, 15%). The incidence of acute GVHD grade II-IV was 51% (grade III-IV 0% patients), the incidence of chronic GVHD 49% (limited 18% and extensive 31% patients). Our results suggest that allogeneic BMT can be performed in patients above the age of 45 years with acceptable morbidity and mortality, especially if a family HLA matched donor is available.

Causative factors for prolonged hospitalization beyond the point of engraftment in patients after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

In order to assess the incidence and analyze reasons which cause prolongation of hospital stay in patients engrafted after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT), we performed this retrospective analysis. One hundred patients (receiving 123 conditioning regimens) were included in the analysis. Criteria for discharge were presence of myeloid engraftment and absence of severe concomitant problems. Ninety subjects (73%) were discharged just after engraftment was reached on day +12 (10-14). Discharge was delayed in 33 patients (27%) and the mean prolongation was 3 days (1-11). In 31 patients (25%) delayed discharge was due to complications: in 14 patients (11.4%) because of GIT problems, in 16 patients (13%) because of infectious complications and in one patient because of cardiotoxicity. A significantly higher number of infectious complications was found in patients conditioned with BEAM (19.7% vs 4.2%, P < 0.05) while GIT toxicity was the most common reason for discharge delays in patients conditioned with melfalan 200 mg/m2 (8.2% vs 14.7%, NS). No risk factors of hospital stay prolongation were determined. We conclude that in spite of rapid engraftment, non-hematological toxicities and infections remain important limitations for further reduction of the length of patient hospitalization in a significant number of patients after PBSCT.

Electrophoretic characterization of a gamma-1-heavy chain disease.

This report describes a new case of gamma-1-heavy chain disease found in a woman with malignant lymphoproliferative disease. The patient's serum and urine containing gamma-1-heavy chains were analyzed using different electrophoretic approaches, especially two-dimensional electrophoresis and immunoblotting analysis. In a serum sample, five sets of gamma-1-heavy chain spots differing in molecular weight with acidic pI values and one set of more basic gamma-1-heavy chain spots were found. The major group of spots exhibited molecular weight in the range from 29 to 39 kDa. Examination of urine sample proved the presence of the more basic set of gamma-1-heavy chain spots and two acidic groups, including 29 to 39 kDa set.

Individual criteria could be optimal for starting G-CSF application after autologous stem cell transplantation.

The optimal time for starting G-CSF application after autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation (APSCT) still remains undetermined. All previous studies used 'fixed' days (0 or +1 vs +5 or +7 post-transplant) for this purpose. As many other drugs have individual, patient-dependent criteria (eg antibiotics, blood products, etc), and the discontinuation of G-CSF also has strict patient-dependent criteria (surprisingly absent when starting the drug) we suppose that attempts to find general criteria suitable for every patient may not be successful. In order to also take the patients' individual predispositions into account we designed a randomized clinical trial to compare 'immediate' administration of G-CSF (day +1: group A) vs 'delayed, patient-dependent' (first day when absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was below 0.5 x 10[9]/1: group B) therapy with G-CSF (both groups received 10 microg/kg/day i.v.). A total of 70 patients after APSCT suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin's disease (HD) conditioned with BEAM, or from multiple myeloma (MM) after melphalan (L-PAM: 200 mg/m2) were enrolled in this study (35 in each group). Both groups were comparable with regard to age, sex, disease stage and previous therapy as well as the number of CD34+ cells transplanted. In group B, G-CSF administration began on day +4 post-transplant (+2 - +5). There were no detectable differences seen in the hematopoietic recovery (time to reach ANC more than 0.5 x 10(9)/l: 12 days vs 13 days; time to platelet recovery, more than 50 x 10(9)/l: 24 days in both groups), use of blood products or antibiotics, infections, or days of hospitalization. Delayed G-CSF application led to significant cost saving in terms of APSCT (approximately US$1341 for each patient). We suggest that 'patient-dependent' criteria for starting G-CSF are reasonable especially in patients conditioned with protocols only slowly inducing neutropenia: eg NHL and HD patients after BEAM, MM after L-PAM or patients after busulphan and cyclophosphamide (BUCY2).

[Diagnostic use of neutrophil segments negative for peroxidase, chloroacetate esterase and sudanophilia in peripheral blood in leukemia]. / Diagnostické vyuzití neutrofilních segmentu s negativitou peroxidázy, chloracetátesterázy a sudanofilie v periferní krvi leukemiku.

The paper contains the results of three cytochemical reactions used for detection of myeloid differentiation (peroxidase, sudanophilia, chloroacetate esterase) in neutrophil segments of the peripheral blood stream in 107 patients with acute myeloid or lymphatic leukaemia. Enzymatically deficient segments were detected in 23 (34.8%) patients with acute myeloid leukaemia. They were not found in any patients lymphatic leukaemia not in healthy subjects. The concurrent deficit of all three reactions was found in 69% of the cases with defective neutrophil segments. However, also isolated affection of any of these reactions was found. In acute leukaemias, not differentiated from the cytochemical and immunophenotypical aspect, we may consider simple evidence of the presence of the mentioned abnormal neutrophil segments in peripheral blood as a highly probable sign of myeloid differentiation of acute leukaemia.

[Treatment of medium and highly malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with combined chemotherapy using methotrexate, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone and bleomycin (protocol MACOP-B)]. / Lécba stredne a vysoce maligních nehodgkinských lymfómu kombinovanou chemoterapií metotrexátem, adriamycinem, cyklofosfamidem, vinkristinem, prednisonem a bleomycinem (protokol MACOP-B).

Combined chemotherapy, protocol MACOP-B, was administered to 21 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with a medium or high grade of malignity, clinical stage II-IV. Complete remission was achieved in 17 patients (81%), in one instance partial remission was induced. One patient died from a cardiovascular and one from a thromboembolic complication during treatment. In one patient the results were not evaluated. Three patients developed severe granulocytopenia which called for reduction or delay of treatment and a septic condition developed. In addition to myelosuppression the main complications were stomatitis and mycosis. No death caused by infectious or haemorrhagic complications was recorded. The described chemotherapy is recommended in particular in immunoblastic lymphomas, diffuse lymphomas from cleaved and non-cleaved cells and diffuse lymphomas with mixed cellularity.