Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplant vs Bone Marrow Transplant in Individuals With Hematologic Cancers (BMT CTN 0201)

BACKGROUND: Many studies of allogeneic marrow transplantation have shown that a higher dose of marrow cells correlates with more robust hematopoietic engraftment and lower mortality from infectious complications. Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) collected after mobilization with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) contain a larger number of CD34-positive (CD34) progenitors and total cells than bone marrow. These observations led to the hypothesis that transplantation of PBSC would lead to lower mortality compared to transplantation of marrow. In addition, PBSC grafts have a higher T cell content, predicting a possibly more powerful anti-leukemia effect. However, the higher T cell content of PBSC may also lead to increased incidence and severity of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This concern is especially serious when the donor is unrelated to the recipient. This prospective, randomized, multicenter clinical trial of unrelated donor transplantation will test the hypothesis that transplantation of PBSC leads to similar patient survival compared to transplantation of marrow. DESIGN NARRATIVE: This is a Phase III randomized, open label, multicenter clinical trial sponsored by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The objective of the trial is to test the null hypothesis that there is no difference in overall survival after PBSC versus marrow transplants from HLA compatible unrelated donors. The study will compare G-CSF-mobilized PBSC transplantation with bone marrow transplantation from HLA-compatible unrelated donors for patients with leukemia, myelodysplastic or myeloproliferative syndromes. Conditioning and GVHD prophylaxis regimens will vary by center and within centers, however, the center must declare before randomization what regimens will be used for each patient. The primary endpoint of this trial is 2-year survival following randomization. Secondary analyses will consider neutrophil and platelet recovery, acute and chronic GVHD, time off all immunosuppressive therapy, relapse, infections, adverse events and immune reconstitution. The trial will include evaluation of patient and donor quality of life, composition of the graft, and immune reconstitution. Accrual is anticipated for 3 years with a follow-up period of 3 years.