AUTOGRAFTING FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC MYELOID-LEUKEMIA - THE HAMMERSMITH EXPERIENCE

The optimal approach for curing patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) is an allogeneic bone marrow transplant ( BMT). However, this approach is not available to the majority of patie nts. Autografting, using either purged or unpurged bone marrow or peri pheral blood stem cells (PBSC), could be beneficial for patients who a re not eligible for BMT. Between 1984 and 1992, 21 patients with CML i n CP were autografted using unmanipulated PBSC harvested either at dia gnosis or thereafter. Ten of 21 patients survived at a median of 84 mo nths following autografting (range: 12-108 months). Eleven patients di ed, seven of blast transformation and four from other causes. The timi ng of the autograft or the harvest does not appear to have a bearing o n survival.