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Publications (5)78.68 Total impact

  • Article: Double unrelated reduced-intensity umbilical cord blood transplantation in adults.
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    ABSTRACT: Umbilical cord blood (UBC) stem cells are a useful stem cell source for patients without matched related or unrelated donors. Adult transplantation with single UBC units is associated with high transplantation-related mortality (TRM). In most cases, mortality is due to infection related to slow engraftment and immunoincompetence. In this study, we used a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen of fludarabine, melphalan, and antithymocyte globulin followed by 2 partially matched UBC units. The UBC units were a 4/6 HLA match or better with each other and with the patient and achieved a minimum precryopreservation cell dose of 3.7 x 10(7) nucleated cells/kg. A total of 21 patients (median age, 49 years) were treated. The median time to an absolute neutrophil count > 0.5 x 10(9)/L was 20 days, and the median time to an unsupported platelet count > 20 x 10(9)/L was 41 days. Two patients experienced primary graft failure and underwent a second UBC transplantation. One patient had a late graft failure. Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) grade II-IV occurred in 40% of patients. The 100-day TRM was 14%, and the 1-year disease-free survival was 67%. Mixed chimerism was associated with a higher risk of chronic GVHD. Our findings indicate that adult patients can tolerate double UBC transplantation well and achieve sustained antitumor responses using this reduced-intensity conditioning regimen.
    Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 02/2007; 13(1):82-9. · 3.87 Impact Factor
  • Article: X-inactivation-based clonality analysis and quantitative JAK2V617F assessment reveal a strong association between clonality and JAK2V617F in PV but not ET/MMM, and identifies a subset of JAK2V617F-negative ET and MMM patients with clonal hematopoiesis.
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    ABSTRACT: The JAK2V617F mutation is present in most patients with polycythemia vera (PV) and in some patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) and myeloid metaplasia/myelofibrosis (MMM). We sought to investigate the relationship between granulocyte clonality and JAK2V617F allelic ratio. A total of 168 of 190 female patients were informative for a clonality assay at the HUMARA locus; 80% of MMM, 75% of PV, and 67% of ET patients demonstrated clonal granulopoiesis. The JAK2V617F allele was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 99% of PV, 72% of ET, and 39% of MMM. A correlation between clonality and JAK2V617F allelic ratio was demonstrated for PV (P < .001) but not for ET or MMM (both P > .6). These data suggest that acquisition of the JAK2V617F mutation may be sufficient for the development of PV, but additional genetic events are necessary in ET and MMM. In addition, some ET and MMM patients with clonal granulopoiesis have somatic mutations other than JAK2V617F.
    Blood 05/2006; 107(10):4139-41. · 9.90 Impact Factor
  • Article: Extended follow-up of patients treated with imatinib mesylate (gleevec) for chronic myelogenous leukemia relapse after allogeneic transplantation: durable cytogenetic remission and conversion to complete donor chimerism without graft-versus-host disease.
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    ABSTRACT: Over the last several years, donor lymphocyte infusions have become the standard approach for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) who relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Recent reports indicate that imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) can induce remissions in these patients as well. Less is known about the extent and durability of these responses. We studied 15 patients treated with imatinib for recurrent CML after SCT, 10 patients with stable phase CML (SP-CML), 1 with accelerated phase (AP-CML), and 4 with blast phase (BP-CML). The dose of imatinib was 600 mg (n = 10) or 400 mg (n = 5) daily. Patients were followed for hematological, cytogenetic, and molecular response. A susbset of responders was followed for changes in donor-derived hematopoietic chimerism. Of the 10 patients with SP-CML, all achieved a hematological response. Within 3 months, five of these patients had achieved a complete cytogenetic response (CCR). By six months, 9 of 10 patients had achieved CCR. The BCR-ABL transcript could not be detected by reverse transcription-PCR in 7 of these 9 patients. Patients who achieved CCR showed evidence of conversion to complete donor chimerism. No patient developed graft-versus-host disease. With a median follow up of 25 months, all patients are alive and 9 of 10 patients remain in CCR. Only one of the 5 patients with AP/BP-CML achieved a complete cytogenetic response. We find that imatinib is well tolerated in patients with SP-CML who relapse after SCT. Responses were rapid, durable, and associated with conversion to full donor chimerism without graft-versus-host disease. Imantinib was far less effective in patients who relapsed with AP/BP-CML. Imatinib should be evaluated as either an alternative or as an adjunct to donor lymphocyte infusions for patients with SP-CML who relapse after SCT.
    Clinical Cancer Research 09/2004; 10(15):5065-71. · 7.74 Impact Factor
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    Article: A phase 2 study of bortezomib in relapsed, refractory myeloma.
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    ABSTRACT: Bortezomib, a boronic acid dipeptide, is a novel proteasome inhibitor that has been shown in preclinical and phase 1 studies to have antimyeloma activity. In this multicenter, open-label, nonrandomized, phase 2 trial, we enrolled 202 patients with relapsed myeloma that was refractory to the therapy they had received most recently. Patients received 1.3 mg of bortezomib per square meter of body-surface area twice weekly for 2 weeks, followed by 1 week without treatment, for up to eight cycles (24 weeks). In patients with a suboptimal response, oral dexamethasone (20 mg daily, on the day of and the day after bortezomib administration) was added to the regimen. The response was evaluated according to the criteria of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and confirmed by an independent review committee. Of 193 patients who could be evaluated, 92 percent had been treated with three or more of the major classes of agents for myeloma, and in 91 percent, the myeloma was refractory to the therapy received most recently. The rate of response to bortezomib was 35 percent, and those with a response included 7 patients in whom myeloma protein became undetectable and 12 in whom myeloma protein was detectable only by immunofixation. The median overall survival was 16 months, with a median duration of response of 12 months. Grade 3 adverse events included thrombocytopenia (in 28 percent of patients), fatigue (in 12 percent), peripheral neuropathy (in 12 percent), and neutropenia (in 11 percent). Grade 4 events occurred in 14 percent of patients. Bortezomib, a member of a new class of anticancer drugs, is active in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma that is refractory to conventional chemotherapy.
    New England Journal of Medicine 07/2003; 348(26):2609-17. · 53.30 Impact Factor
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    Article: Comparable outcome with T-cell-depleted unrelated-donor versus related-donor allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
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    ABSTRACT: To assess the effect of related versus unrelated donors on outcomes in patients following T-cell-depleted (TCD) allogeneic BMT, we compared engraftment, GVHD, relapse rates, and survival in BMT patients who received CD6+ TCD marrow from HLA-matched related donors (MRD) with those in patients who received CD6+ TCD marrow from unrelated donors (URD). A total of 170 consecutive patients (120 with related donors, 50 with unrelated donors) were analyzed. The 2 groups were similar in age, sex, prior cytomegalovirus exposure, and stage of disease at the time of transplantation. GVHD prophylaxis was identical in the 2 groups, with TCD as the only method of GVHD prophylaxis. The total number of nucleated, CD34+, CD33+, and CD6+ cells infused did not significantly differ between the 2 groups. The median day to reach 500 x 10(6) neutrophils/L was 12 days for both related (range, 8-22 days) and unrelated (range, 9-23 days) graft recipients (P = .92). Incidence of grades 2 through 4 acute GVHD was higher in URD than in MRD recipients (42% versus 20%, P = .004). According to multivariable analysis results, donor source was the single most important factor influencing GVHD (P = .01). The 2-year estimated risk of relapse was 45.9% in MRD recipients compared to 25.7% in URD recipients (P = .06). Multivariable analysis revealed that the 2 most pertinent factors adversely affecting overall survival were advanced disease stage (P = .0002) and age greater than 50 years (P = .0003) at transplantation. There was no difference in relapse-free survival in URD and MRD recipients. We conclude that for patients undergoing TCD-BMT, use of unrelated marrow is associated with a higher risk of GVHD and other transplantation-related complications. However, these adverse events do not lead to inferior probability of relapse-free survival because they are accompanied by a reduction in relapse rates.
    Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 02/2002; 8(11):601-7. · 3.87 Impact Factor