Bone marrow transplantation for severe aplastic anemia: a randomized controlled study of conditioning regimens

The addition of antithymocyte globulin (ATG) to a regimen of high-dose cyclophosphamide has been advocated to enhance engraftment after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for severe aplastic anemia (SAA). In a prospective clinical trial, 134 patients were randomly assigned to receive cyclophosphamide alone or in combination with ATG. All patients received T-cell–replete bone marrow from an HLA-matched sibling. With a median follow-up of 6 years, the 5-year probabilities of survival were 74% for the cyclophosphamide alone group and 80% for the cyclophosphamide plus ATG group (P = .44). Graft failure and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) rates were similar in both groups. With the survival rates achieved, this study is not adequately powered to detect significant differences between the 2 treatment groups. In conclusion, the results of allogeneic BMT for SAA have improved over time related to advances in supportive care. The addition of ATG to the preparative regimen did not significantly improve the outcome.     

Survival outcome according to KRAS mutation status in newly diagnosed patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer treated with platinum doublet chemotherapy

Introduction

Mutations (MT) of the KRAS gene are the most common mutation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), seen in about 20–25% of all adenocarcinomas. Effect of KRAS MT on response to cytotoxic chemotherapy is unclear.

Methods

We undertook a single-institution retrospective analysis of 93 consecutive patients with stage IV NSCLC adenocarcinoma with known KRAS and EGFR MT status to determine the association of KRAS MT with survival. All patients were treated between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011 with standard platinum based chemotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania. Overall and progression free survival were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard methods.

Results

All patients in this series received platinum doublet chemotherapy, and 42 (45%) received bevacizumab. Overall survival and progression free survival for patients with KRAS MT was no worse than for patients with wild type KRAS. Median overall survival for patients with KRAS MT was 19 months (mo) vs. 15.6 mo for KRAS WT, p = 0.34, and progression-free survival was 6.2 mo in patients with KRAS MT vs. 7mo in patients with KRAS WT, p = 0.51. In multivariable analysis including age, race, gender, and ECOG PS, KRAS MT was not associated with overall survival (HR 1.12, 95% CI 0.58–2.16, p = 0.74) or progression free survival (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.48–1.34, p = 41). Of note, receipt of bevacizumab was associated with improved overall survival only in KRAS WT patients (HR 0.34, p = 0.01).

Conclusions

KRAS MT are not associated with inferior progression-free and overall survival in advanced NSCLC patients treated with standard first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.