Syngeneic stem cell grafts offer little improvement over autografts for breast cancer patients.

2003 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Syngeneic stem cell grafts offer little improvement over autografts for breast cancer patients.

"Metastatic breast cancer has been a common indication for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)," scientists in the United States explained. "Previous reports indicate three-year survival and progression-free survival (PFS) rates after autotransplant to be about 30% and 15%, respectively. Most deaths are from recurrent disease."

"One potential cause for high relapse rates is graft contamination" with tumor cells, according to J.D. Rizzo and colleagues at the Medical College of Wisconsin, who evaluated outcomes in "fourteen women with metastatic breast cancer transplanted between 1991 and 1998 with hematopoietic cells from identical twins."

"Median age was 41 years (range 34-50). Most women (12 of 14) were treated with mastectomy, and all received anthracycline-based regimens in their pretransplant course; nine women also received a taxane, seven radiotherapy and three hormonal therapy," they noted. "Four women were in complete remission (one CR, three CRU) at transplant, five were in partial remission, two had stable disease and two had progressive disease."

"Eight women have died, one of treatment-related causes and ...