Reduced risk of recurrent leukaemia in bone marrow transplant recipients after cytomegalovirus infection

B Löunnqvist, O Ringdegn, P Ljungman… - British journal of …, 1986 - Wiley Online Library
B Löunnqvist, O Ringdegn, P Ljungman, B Wahren, G Gahrton
British journal of haematology, 1986Wiley Online Library
The first 72 consecutive bone‐marrow transplant recipients with haematological
malignancies (29 with acute nonlymphoblastic leukaemia, 31 with acute lymphoblastic
leukaemia, nine with CML and three with myelofibro‐sis, IgA myeloma and T‐cell
lymphoma, respectively) were investigated for the frequency of relapses 1 year or later after
bone‐marrow transplantation. Seven relapses occurred from 30 to 850 d after
transplantation (median 180 d). All relapses occurred in patients with acute leukaemia≤ 18 …
Summary
The first 72 consecutive bone‐marrow transplant recipients with haematological malignancies (29 with acute nonlymphoblastic leukaemia, 31 with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, nine with CML and three with myelofibro‐sis, IgA myeloma and T‐cell lymphoma, respectively) were investigated for the frequency of relapses 1 year or later after bone‐marrow transplantation. Seven relapses occurred from 30 to 850 d after transplantation (median 180 d). All relapses occurred in patients with acute leukaemia ≤ 18 years of age with a high risk for relapse, i.e. transplanted in second or later remission or with more than 10% blasts in the marrow before transplantation. Among all patients the probability of relapse was increased in patients without cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (P= 0.001) and in patients without chronic GVHD (P= 0.049). Among leukaemic patients ≤ 18 years of age with a high risk of relapse all relapses occurred in patients (n= 11) without CMV infection, whereas no relapses were seen in patients (n= 13) with CMV infection (P= 0.006). Known risk factors for leukaemic relapse were comparable in both groups.
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