Total body irradiation-based regimen in the conditioning of patients submitted to haploidentical stem cell transplantation.

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a highly immuno- and myelo-suppressive conditioning regimen followed by the infusion of large numbers of T-cell-depleted mismatched haematopoietic stem cells in 43 high-risk acute leukaemia patients. A high rate of engraftment (95%) and no graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) were observed. The 4-year probability of event-free survival was 0.25+/-0.09 for acute myeloid leukaemia and 0.17+/-0.07 for acute lymphoid leukaemia patients. This study shows that the main obstacles limiting the use of mismatched transplants, i.e. GvHD and rejection, were overcome.