I believe the 10 years of reports of BuCy in AML Kamani et al. [1] report their experience of using total should tell us that we should all be participating in prospecbody irradiation followed by ARA-C for 20 children with tive randomized trials of such preparative regimens. acute leukemia undergoing BMT from matched sibling
The International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry donors. Unfortunately, we are not able to assess the impact has recently moved from retrospective data collection, of this preparative regimen because data on the disease and initiated a randomised trial of conditioning regimens status of the patients are lacking. From reading the paper in Severe Aplastic Anemia. At the last European Blood carefully, I think that 8 ALL patients relapsed on or within and Marrow Transplant Meeting in March 1995, a Paedi-3 months off-treatment; 4 had relapsed 3 or more months atric Working Party was convened under the Chairmanoff-treatment and 2 had not relapsed; 5 of the 6 AML ship of Prof. Niethammer. The enthusiasm of the group patients had not relapsed. I think that 5 of the 6 AML should ensure that preparative regimens are an area exand 12 of the 14 ALL patients were in remission, either plored in some of the studies being planned. Surely in CR 1 or 2, but it is not easy to glean this information. An 1995, we can learn from the past, and expect that in an extra column in the table would have made the situation international group, preparative regimens only be exclearer. This information is vital, since we know that the plored as part of prospective randomized trials. risk of relapse post-BMT is directly related to the disease status pre-BMT.
Peter Shaw Like Kamani, we have been influenced by the report Oncology Unit of Brochstein et al. [2] Since 1991, all patients with ALL The Children's Hospital undergoing BMT at our centre have been prepared with Sydney NSW 2050 Australia 1,320 cGy of TBI (given as 8 fractions over 4 days) followed by 2 days of cyclophosphamide, 60 mg/kg/day. Of