Cancer Chemotherapy and Autogenous Bone Marrow Transplant.

Abstract

Thirty patients with widespread neoplastic disease have been treated with high doses of anticancer drugs. At the end of the treatment bone marrow previously drawn from the same patients and stored at -79 °C was reinfused. Different chemotherapeutic drugs were employed, mainly cyclophosphamide (17 cases) for a total dose of 100 mg/Kg, given during 10 days. Two patients died within a month because of toxic effects due to the treatment. In 13 cases a remarkable regression of the neoplastic lesions was observed, while in 10 cases the objective improvement was slight. Three patients are still clinically free of disease more than two years after treatment. The reinfusion of autologous bone marrow seems to favour the haematologic recovery and to avoid the more dangerous toxic effects of high doses of chemotherapy. The results so far obtained do not allow any conclusion on the definite therapeutic advantage of high dosage of anti-cancer drugs over the conventional doses, although remarkable results have been obtained in few patients.