We report a retrospective comparison of peripheral blood (PBSC) versus bone marrow derived stem cells for allogeneic transplant in a cohort of similarly treated patients based on eight year data from a single institution. Over the period 1995 to 2003, a total of 151 patients with AML or ALL in first CR underwent allogeneic matched sibling donor transplant, 98 AML patients and 53 with ALL. The source of stem cells was bone marrow in 69, G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) in 82. Of the AML patients, 40 (58%) received marrow, 58 (71%) received PBSC. Of the ALL patients, 29 (42%) received marrow, 24 (29%) got PBSC. The age of patients receiving marrow was 32.7 ± 13.6, and for those getting PBSC was 36.1 ± 16.1. The conditioning regimen was fully ablative (TBI/VP-16) in all but five patients (Fludarabine/Melphalan in 1 marrow and 4 PBSC pts). GVHD prophylaxis was with cyclosporine/methotrexate in patients receiving ablative conditioning, and CSP/MMF in the flu/mel patients.

The time to achieving an ANC >1000 was significantly shorter (P value=.0001) in the PBSC group, 18.2 ±6.6 days vs. 27.2 ±48.7 in the marrow group. Time to achieving a platelet count greater than 25K was significantly shorter (P value=2x10−11) for the PBSC group, 20.9 ± 8.5 vs. 31.8 ± 11.2 for marrow. This was true as well for time to reach platelet counts greater than 100K (P value=10−8), 29.7 ± 28 days for PBSC, 55.8 ±55.6 for marrow. In fact there was a significant increase (P=.0001) in the number of patients, 29 (42%) of marrow recipients vs 11 (13%) of PBSC, who did not at any time achieve a platelet count of >100K. There was no significant difference in survival at 2 years or 4 years between marrow or PBSC-Kaplan-Meier survival probability at 2 and 4 years respectively for AML was.66 and.54 for marrow, and.67 and.54 for PBSC. In ALL, the 2 and 4 year K-M survival probability was.72 and.65 for marrow;.69 and.69 for PBSC recipients. There was no significant difference in acute GVHD, with grade I-II described in 19 (28%) of the marrow pts, 29 (35%) in the PBSC pts, and grade II-IV in 8 (12%) marrow pts and 11 (13%) receiving PBSC (p value =.57), or chronic GVHD (P value=.62). Interestingly, in a subset analysis of patients who were diagnosed with acute GVHD, there was a significant difference in disease free survival at 5 years (see graph), suggesting that there is a qualitative difference between acute GVHD observed as a result of bone marrow versus PBSC as a source of stem cells.

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