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Autografting

Tandem autologous vs autologous plus reduced intensity allogeneic transplantation in the upfront management of multiple myeloma: meta-analysis of trials with biological assignment

Abstract

We utilized meta-analysis to compare tandem autologous (TA) hematopoietic SCT (auto-HSCT) or single auto-HSCT followed by reduced intensity conditioning (RIC), allogeneic (AR) hematopoietic SCT in the upfront management of patients with multiple myeloma (MM). A comprehensive search strategy of published and unpublished reports utilized the following entry criteria: newly diagnosed patients, first autologous transplantation in both arms, use of an RIC regimen and assignment to TA or AR based exclusively on the availability of an HLA matched donor. Six trials were identified yielding 1192 subjects in TA and 630 in AR. Patients in AR had higher likelihoods of TRM (relative risk (RR)=3.3, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.2–4.8) and CR (RR=1.4, 95% CI=1.1–1.8). OS was not different in the first 36 months (hazard ratio (HR)=1.15, 95% CI=0.91–1.45) or after (HR=0.74, 95% CI=0.53–1.04) 36 months from assignment. Similar findings were seen for PFS. When compared with TA in the upfront management of MM, AR is associated with higher TRM and CR without improvement in PFS or OS.

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Acknowledgements

The research presented in this article was supported in part by the Biostatistics Shared Resource as part of the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina which is funded by a Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA138313. This study was presented at the 38th European Group or EBMT annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in 03 April 2012.

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Correspondence to L J Costa.

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Armeson, K., Hill, E. & Costa, L. Tandem autologous vs autologous plus reduced intensity allogeneic transplantation in the upfront management of multiple myeloma: meta-analysis of trials with biological assignment. Bone Marrow Transplant 48, 562–567 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2012.173

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