Articles related to STEM CELLS

This is an 8-year follow-up to the author’s initial report of a randomized phase II study in patients with newly diagnosed primary CNS lymphoma treated with high-dose methotrexate-based induction chemotherapy followed by whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) or high-dose chemotherapy (thiotepa-busulfan-cyclophosphamide) with autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT). They conclude that 40 Gy WBRT should be avoided in first-line treatment in this population because of its neurotoxicity and suboptimal efficacy in reducing relapses, while ASCT appears to be highly efficient in preventing relapses.

Even after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HCT), poor outcomes are typically the case in patients with TP53-mutant (mTP53) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The data from recent trials using the combination of eprenetapopt (APR-246) and azacitidine showed positive preclinical results in mTP53 AML/MDS, and this trial sought to assess the efficacy and safety of the eprenetapopt and azacitidine combination as maintenance therapy after allogeneic HCT in patients with mTP53 AML or MDS.

The analysis showed that autologous stem-cell transplant (ASCT) was underutilized in the US community setting, among other results. These data support ongoing prospective trials evaluating the role of ASCT in patients achieving complete response without detectable minimal residual disease.

Data from a large phase III trial (Myeloma XI) were examined to determine the relationship between MRD status, PFS, and OS in post-ASCT patients randomly assigned to lenalidomide maintenance or no maintenance at 3 months after ASCT. At ASCT + 3 and ASCT + 9, MRD-negative status was associated with improved PFS and OS. Sustained MRD negativity from ASCT + 3 to ASCT + 9 or the conversion to MRD negativity by ASCT + 9 was associated with the longest PFS/OS.