Autologous bone marrow transplantation reduces relapse in acute myeloid leukaemia

The largest trial ever carried out in acute myeloid leukaemia has found that autologous bone marrow transplantation after conventional chemotherapy reduces the risk of relapse by one third.

The trial, which was funded by Britain's Medical Research Council, included 381 patients aged up to 56 years who had acute myeloid leukaemia (Lancet 1998; 351:700-8). They were given three courses of chemotherapy before their bone marrow was collected and frozen. After the next course of chemotherapy they were randomly assigned to two groups: one received no further treatment and the other received autologous bone marrow transplants.

Only 64 (37%) of the 190 patients in the group that received bone marrow transplants had a relapse compared with 101 (58%) of the 191 who received no further treatment. Over half (54%) of the group who …