Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1-2
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-11-8
pubmed:abstractText
PURPOSE: Current published data on therapeutic leukapheresis in hyperleucocytic AML does not define the impact on survival from this procedure. Between 1992 and 1999 we saw 146 patients with newly-diagnosed AML (APL excluded) and an initial WBC count > 50 x 10(9)/L of whom 71 underwent leukapheresis at the discretion of their treating doctors. We compared outcome (early mortality, CR, and overall survival) rates in the patients who were and were not pheresed. After accounting for covariates relevant to these outcomes, including age, performance status, and cytogenetics, there was evidence (p = .006) that pheresis reduced 2-week mortality rate and a suggestion (p = .06) that this resulted in a higher CR rate. However there was no evidence that pheresis lengthened longer-term or overall survival; if anything the suggestion was the converse (p = .06). These data may reflect the fact that the patients chosen to have pheresis were prognostically unfavorable as defined by variables that were not captured in our data set, since the alternative explanation i.e. that pheresis per se shortens overall survival seems less likely. Whether the above justifies the use of pheresis in the absence of evidence from a randomized trial is doubtful, but it seems likely that any long-term benefit to be derived from this procedure must await further advances in anti-leukemia therapy.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
1042-8194
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
42
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
67-73
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Leukapheresis reduces early mortality in patients with acute myeloid leukemia with high white cell counts but does not improve long- term survival.
pubmed:affiliation
Departments of Leukemia, Biostatistics, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Box 61, Houston, TX 77030, USA. fgiles@mdanderson.org
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article