title: Survival, disease-free survival and adverse effects of conditioning for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation with busulfan/cyclophosphamide vs total body irradiation: a meta-analysis.
abstract: Randomized, prospective studies comparing BUCY to TBI conditioning regimens for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation have yielded conflicting results. We investigated the overall survival, the disease-free survival and the toxicities of BUCY vs TBI-based regimens by conducting a meta-analysis of all published, randomized, prospective trials comparing these regimens. Five studies were analyzed. We evaluated six endpoints: survival, disease-free survival, veno-occlusive disease (VOD) of the liver, acute GVHD, chronic GVHD, and interstitial pneumonitis. We combined individual study results using a random effects model. Survival and disease-free survival were better with TBI-based regimens than with BUCY, but these differences were not statistically significant (survival odds ratio 1.4, 95% confidence interval 0.9-2.2, P = 0.09; disease-free survival odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval 0.7-2.1, P = 0.44). A power analysis indicated that BUCY was unlikely to have a clinically relevant survival or disease-free survival advantage. The power analysis could not exclude the possibility of such an advantage for TBI-based regimens. A significantly greater incidence of VOD occurred with BUCY (odds ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.2-5.2, P = 0.02). For the other side-effects, there were no significant differences. We concluded that TBI-based regimens cause less VOD than BUCY and are at least as good for survival and disease-free survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Dillon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality*; D002066:Busulfan / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D002066:Busulfan