Polychemotherapy combined with G-CSF-mobilized donor buffy coat transfusion for granulocytic sarcoma after allogeneic...

In 1988, a 27-year-old male patient received an allogeneic BMT for leukemic relapse 8 months after ABMT for AML (M2) in first complete remission. Because of chronic GVHD of the liver CsA was administered until 1994. Nine months after discontinuation of CsA, locally advanced gastric granulocytic sarcoma (GS) was diagnosed without evidence of systemic relapse. The patient was treated with two courses of polychemotherapy (ICE, NOVIA). Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized donor buffy coat cells were reinfused after each chemotherapy cycle in an attempt to accelerate hematopoietic regeneration and to induce a graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect. Local irradiation and surgical resection of residual leukemic cells resulted in complete remission. Seventeen months from diagnosis of GS the patient relapsed again with multiple lesions and died of generalized bleeding during aplasia after a third course of polychemotherapy (ICE). In our patient donor peripheral blood stem cell support did not accelerate hematopoietic regeneration (time to neutrophil recovery > 0.5 x 10(9) g/l from the start of chemotherapy was 27 days after ICE and 36 days after NOVIA) and did not result in long-term disease-free survival.