REDUCTION IN THE FREQUENCY OF TRANSPLANT-RELATED COMPLICATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC MYELOID-LEUKEMIA UNDERGOING BMT PRECONDITIONED WITHA NEW, NON-MYELOABLATIVE DRUG-COMBINATION

A radiation-free, non-myeloablative, myelosuppressive protocol, contai ning dibromomannitol and cytosine arabinoside, that remarkably reduced the frequency of transplant-related complications, such as veno-occlu sive liver disease (VOLD), severe mucositis, bacterial sepsis, hemorrh agic cystitis, interstitial pneumonitis, has been applied in 19 CML pa tients, allotransplanted from identical siblings. Five patients were i n accelerated phase. Acute GVHD developed in two patients and chronic GVHD occurred in 66% of patients. Follow-up was 3 to 7 1/2 years. Alth ough only eight patients were under 30 years of age, and only two pati ents had a history of less than 1 year, the leukemia-free survival was 82%, There were four hematological relapses. The reduction in post-PM T complications has greatly enhanced quality of life, The nurses repor ted significant reduction of work-load, Savings in eliminating the nee d for irradiation, parenteral nutrition, and several antibiotics are a lso remarkable, The remarkable reduction of certain transplant-related complications shows some advantage against busulphan-preconditioning.