11101 Background: High-dose chemotherapy with autologous haematopoietic stem cells support (HDCT) in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer has been abandoned by many, but it remains unclear the real role of this treatment and a meta-analysis of high-dose chemotherapy adjuvant trials is ongoing. Methods: Twenty-five consecutive high risk early breast cancer pts with at least 40 months of follow-up treated at our institution with HDCT are included in the present analysis. Median age was 44 (range 24–59 years) and 15 pts were premenopausal. The median number of axillary lymph-nodes metastases was 13 (range 3–49) and the pathological stage was IIB in one pt, IIIA in 3 pts, IIIB in one pt and IIIC in 20 pts. Estrogen and/or progesterone receptors were positive in 15 pts and both negative in 10 pts. The 10- year risk of relapse of pts with disease characteristics similar to those included in our study population is 80–85%. The HDCT regimen used was cyclophosphamide 7g/m2 plus G-CSF (followed by apheresis of peripheral haematopoietic stem cells), methotrexate 8 g/m2 followed by thiotepa 600 mg/m2 and melphalan 160 mg/m2 or by mitozantrone 60 mg/m2 and melphalan 180 mg/m2 and stem cells reinfusion. Results: At a median follow-up of 7 years (range 3,5 - 8 years) 13 pts (52%) relapsed and 10 pts (40%) died. The most common sites of recurrence were lung, liver and bones; 6 pts developed brain metastases and in 2 cases a bone marrow infiltration was documented. No toxic deaths and no long term toxicities, except irreversible amenorrhoea in all the premenopausal pts, were observed. No secondary malignancies occurred.The median relapse-free survival is 65,1 months, while the median overall survival has not been reached yet. Conclusions: In our experience high-dose sequential chemotherapy with autologous stem cells support is a safe treatment with no toxic deaths and no long-term toxicities. This regimen should therefore be further investigated if translational research will be able to identify subgroups of pts with the highest probability to benefit from intensive chemotherapy. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Long-Term Follow-Up of Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Highly Purified Autologous CD34+Thy-1+ Hematopoietic Stem Cells After High-Dose Chemotherapy
