Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with non-myeloablative conditioning for patients with hematologic malignancies: Improved outcomes over two decades.

We have used a non-myeloablative conditioning regimen for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for the past twenty years. During that period, changes in clinical practice have been aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality from infections, organ toxicity, and graft-versus-host disease. We hypothesized that improvements in clinical practice led to better transplantation outcomes over time.

Cord-Blood Transplantation in Patients with Minimal Residual Disease.

Background: The majority of patients in need of a hematopoietic-cell transplant do not have a matched related donor. Data are needed to inform the choice among various alternative donor-cell sources.

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we compared outcomes in 582 consecutive patients with acute leukemia or the myelodysplastic syndrome who received a first myeloablative hematopoietic-cell transplant from an unrelated cord-blood donor (140 patients), an HLA-matched unrelated donor (344), or an HLA-mismatched unrelated donor (98).

[Expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and its relationship to apoptosis in myelodysplastic syndromes].

Objective: To explore the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in hematopoietic cells and investigate its relationship to apoptosis in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients.

Method: Mononuclear cells from 18 MDS patients were used to analyze the expression of EGFR and the apoptotic signals by immunocytochemical technique and TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) fluorescein. Flow cytometry (FCM) sorted CD(34)(+) cells from 15 MDS cases and 6 normal donors were also analyzed for the EGFR expression and apoptotic signals.