A 3-day short course of palifermin before HDT reduces toxicity and need for supportive care after autologous blood stem-cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma.

Background: We retrospectively determined whether a 3-day short course of palifermin could reduce the toxicity of high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous blood stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).

Patients And Methods: Sixty-seven consecutive patients received 60 mug/kg palifermin for 3 days before HDT with melphalan 200 or 140 mg/m(2) for patients with renal failure (group A). Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was applied after ASCT.

Sorafenib (Nexavar) induces molecular remission and regression of extramedullary disease in a patient with FLT3-ITD+ acute myeloid leukemia.

The fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) can be found in about one quarter of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) [Small D. FLT3 mutations: biology and treatment. Hematology Am Soc Hematology.

Unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation as salvage treatment for engraftment failure following autologous stem cell transplantation.

We report a case of a patient with multiple myeloma and engraftment failure after high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplantation. After rescue treatment with G-CSF and back-up reinfusion of autologous stem cells failed, allogeneic umbilical cord blood transplantation resulted in neutrophil engraftment on day +16 and a 57 months lasting complete remission. This case report shows that umbilical cord blood transplantation is a rescue option after engraftment failure of autologous transplantation, which is available for 99% of patients due to the less stringent HLA matching criteria.