Comparison of High-Dose Busulfan and Total Body Irradiation Prior to Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation

The treatment of adults with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has improved considerably during the last 20 years, with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) becoming an important part of postremission therapy [1]. High-dose oral busulfan (HD-BU) with a total dose of 16mg/kg body weight in combination with cyclophosphamide (CY) 120mg/kg body weight has emerged as the alternative conditioning regimen to total body irradiation (TBI) plus CY in recent years [2,4]. Organ toxicities related to chemoradiation therapy preceding BMT have to be considered as important factors for treatment outcome when assigning patients to different conditioning regimens.