Autografting for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia--the Hammersmith experience

The optimal approach for curing patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) is an allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT). However, this approach is not available to the majority of patients. Autografting, using either purged or unpurged bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), could be beneficial for patients who are not eligible for BMT. Between 1984 and 1992, 21 patients with CML in CP were autografted using unmanipulated PBSC harvested either at diagnosis or thereafter. Ten of 21 patients survived at a median of 84 months following autografting (range: 12-108 months). Eleven patients died, seven of blast transformation and four from other causes. The timing of the autograft or the harvest does not appear to have a bearing on survival.