Atypical teratoid or rhabdoid tumors: improved outcome with high-dose chemotherapy.

Purpose: To retrospectively review an institutional experience in managing atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (AT/RT) of the Central Nervous System with high-dose chemotherapy in infants and children less than 4 years old.

Materials/methods: Eight AT/RT patients were identified during the study period 2003 to 2008. Tumor location was supratentorial in 3 cases, infratentorial in 3 cases, and multifocal in 2 patients.

Pediatric standard-risk AML with fully matched sibling donors: to transplant in first CR or not?

Allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) for children with standard-risk AML in first CR (CR1) is controversial. We reviewed 32 consecutive children with standard-risk AML who received matched sibling donor HSCT in CR1 from 1995 to 2004. With a median follow-up of 76 months (range: 36-114), 3 year EFS was 0.

A comparison of the outcomes of children with acute myelogenous leukemia in either first or second complete remission (CR1 vs CR2) following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at a single transplant center.

We reviewed 70 consecutive children with AML who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in our institution between 1994 and 2005. Forty-seven children were transplanted in CR1 and 23 were transplanted in CR2. BU/CY was the most common pretransplant conditioning regimen for CR1 patients and a TBI-based conditioning regimen was the most common regimen for CR2 patients.