10 patients were subjected to tandem
transplantation for
breast cancer (n = 3),
ovarian cancer (n = 2) and
multiple myeloma (n = 5), at the Second Department of Medicine, Donauspital, Vienna. The
breast cancer patients were in stages 2 and 3, respectively, at diagnosis and entered complete remission thereafter. 2 of them developed
lymph node metastasis and additional local recurrence, the 3rd patient presented with distant
metastasis. The 2 patients with
ovarian cancer were in stages Figo III and IV, respectively, at the time of diagnosis, and showed
minimal residual disease at second-look-operation. 5 patients with
multiple myeloma were in stage 3 pretransplant. Peripheral stem cells were obtained after either high-dose
cyclophosphamide or FEC induction and application of
cytokines. In 4 patients, tandem
transplantation has been completed. 1 patient with
multiple myeloma, who had received total body irradiation in combination with
chemotherapy for the 2nd transplant, succumbed from
idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. No severe clinical complications were observed in all other patients. All patients with solid
tumors entered complete remission after the 1st
transplantation. 3 of them completed tandem
transplantation. Of these, 2 remain in continuous complete remission, the 3rd patient relapsed in lymph nodes day 485. In patients who received only 1 course of high dose
chemotherapy with
stem cell transplantation, relapses occurred on days 29 and 75, respectively. All patients with
multiple myeloma entered only partial remission. We conclude that supralethal
chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell support is a safe procedure that may at least induce prolonged remissions in solid
tumors and
hematologic malignancies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)