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Blood, 15 September 2006, Vol. 108, No. 6, pp. 2127-2130. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on May 25, 2006; DOI 10.1182/blood-2006-04-007898. This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Figures All Versions of this Article: blood-2006-04-007898v1 108/6/2127    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zenz, T. Articles by Stilgenbauer, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zenz, T. Articles by Stilgenbauer, S. Related Collections Immunobiology Neoplasia Transplantation Brief Reports Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Article  TRANSPLANTATION Brief report Autologous graft-versus-host disease–like syndrome after an alemtuzumab-containing conditioning regimen and autologous stem cell transplantation for chronic lymphocytic leukemia Thorsten Zenz, Matthias Ritgen, Peter Dreger, Alexander Kröber, Thomas F. Barth, Richard Schlenk, Sebastian Böttcher, Michael J. Hallek, Michael Kneba, Donald Bunjes, Hartmut Döhner, and Stephan Stilgenbauer From the Departments of Internal Medicine III and Pathology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany; the Department of Internal Medicine II, University of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany; the Department of Internal Medicine V, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; and the Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. A high incidence of autologous graft-versus-host-disease (auto-GVHD) was observed after an alemtuzumab-containing conditioning regimen and autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Skin rash developed in almost all surviving patients (87%). In 7 patients (58%), a diagnosis of auto-GVHD was made (compared with 0% after TBI/Cy; P = .01). All patients with auto-GVHD required immunosuppression, and 3 of 7 were hospitalized because of GVHD. The median duration of GVHD was 517 days (range, 60-867 days). Auto-GVHD was associated with an abnormally high CD4/CD8 ratio because of severe depletion of CD8+ T cells, pointing to a potential pathomechanism. High non–relapse-related mortality led to the discontinuation of the trial. Current results do not support the use of high-dose alemtuzumab combined with total body irradiation (TBI) and autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT). However, the addition of alemtuzumab led to improved disease control at the molecular level. Longer follow-up will show whether the GVHD-like syndrome may contribute to prolonged minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? This article has been cited by other articles: J. G. Gribben The Role of Stem Cell Transplantation in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia ASCO Educational Book, January 1, 2008; 2008(1): 291 - 296. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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