Increased non-relapse mortality due to high-dose cytarabine plus CY/TBI in BMT/PBSCT for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adults

Summary The efficacy of high-dose cytarabine (HDCA) plus cyclophosphamide/total-body irradiation (CY/TBI) has been proved in cord blood transplantation (CBT) for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), but not in bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (BMT/PBSCT). In this cohort study, we compared the prognosis of CY/TBI (N = 1244) and HDCA/CY/TBI (N = 316) regimens in BMT/PBSCT for ALL. The addition of HDCA decreased post-transplant relapse, while significantly increasing non-relapse mortality (risk ratio, 1·33), and overall survival was not improved. The positive effects of HDCA reported in CBT cannot be extrapolated to BMT/PBSCT, and HDCA may not be recommended in these procedures.